Rugrats and the Gray Plague
by celrock
Summary: When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?
1. Chapter 1

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

NOTE: This story takes place when the rugrats are still babies, at the age they were in the original series, but Kimmi is now 2-years-old, as it takes place after her Birthday, which was the final episode of Rugrats to air in Season 9 when the show was canceled.

Chapter #1

The weekend is approaching, and the whole gang is hanging out in the front yard at Tommy's house. "That was the best Birthday party ever!" said Kimmi, "I especially loved it that Taffy sang at my party, even if my Dummi Bears ice cream cake was all melted, it was fun anyway." Smiling, she continued, "I can't wait to have more fun this weekend!" "Um, Kimmi?" Chimed in Chuckie, "We won't be here this weekend, we're going to visit my grandma and grandpa." "You mean the ones who came for a visit when we learned about our family tree?" asked Tommy. "Those are the ones," said Chuckie. "Though I'd love to meet my grandma and grandpa on my new mommy's side, I bet they're real nice."

"Me and Lil won't be here this weekend either," said Phil. "We're going to visit our uncle Freddy," Lil added. "That guy who claimed brothers and sisters are monsters?" asked Chuckie in a shaky voice. "Yeah, but he's not so bad," said Lil. "Yes he is Lillian," argued Phil. "No he's not," said Lil. Angelica comes stomping along shouting, "Would you dumb babies put a lid on it?" She shoves her way through the group, nearly knocking Dil over. "Well, while you dumb babies go spend time with your not so interesting relatives, I'll be having another boring weekend myself, spending it with melon head and drool boy," she sighed.

We cut to the grown ups sitting on benches across the yard. "Hey Didi, I have a favor to ask," said Charlotte, "Drew and I have to go out of town this weekend for a very important business meeting, so would it be possible for you to watch Angelica?" Didi shakes her head. "I'm afraid we can't this time," she said. "Pop and Lulu have rented a condo for the weekend on the beach, and have invited Stu, Tommy, Dil and me to spend the weekend with them." "Well can't you guys just, bring Angelica along?" Charlotte asked. "You let her come along to the Grand Canyon and Los Vegas, and Angelica loves the beach," Charlotte added. "I'm sorry," Didi said, putting her hand beneath her chin. "The last time we watched Angelica for an entire weekend, we had to wait on her hand and foot, and she demanded chocolate pudding at 3 in the morning! We really, just cannot do it this time." "Alright fine," Charlotte sighed, "Drew, let's gather up Angelica, looks like we'll be taking her to my business meeting for the first time."

Meanwhile, Angelica is telling Tommy and Dil how she'll be in charge when they go to the beach, when her daddy walks up behind her. "Time to go princess, looks like you'll be coming with your mommy and me on our business trip," said Drew. "But, but, but, I want to go to the beach with cousin Tommy and Dil," cried Angelica. "Sorry Angelica, but you weren't invited. Now, let's go." Drew takes Angelica's arm, and Angelica, Drew and Charlotte, all get into their car and drive away. Meanwhile, Beddy walks over.

"Better get the pups ready to go see their uncle Freddy," she said as she scoopped up one twin in each arm. "See you later, have a nice weekend," as she walks away towards her front yard. Meanwhile, Kira walks up to Chuckie and Kimmi and takes each of them by the hand. "We'd better be going too," she said. "Chaz would like to leave in a couple of hours for his parents as soon as he closes the Java Lava for the night." "Have a nice time," said Didi with a smile on her face. As Kira walks down the sidewalk with Chuckie and Kimmi, Tommy waves goodbye.

Later on, everyone is on the highway, at one point, one car behind the other. Angelica's car is in front, followed by the Deville's, followed by the Finster's, with Tommy's family bringing up the rear. In the backseat of Tommy's car, Tommy smiles and says to Dil, "I'm looking forward to going to the beach Dilly, what a great place for an adventure." "Grandpa, Grandpa," Dil cries, "And we'll get to see grandpa too," said Tommy with a smile. The 4 cars come up to an intersection, and each car turns off into 4 separate directions.

Later that weekend, an announcement comes on the radio and TV news, presented by famous child psychologist, Doctor Lipschitz. "I have an announcement for all parents of young children," he said. "There is a terrible Flu epidemic going around, known as the Gray Plague. This illness is the leading cause of death in small children ages 3 and under. 95% of children are dying everyday from this terrible plague. However, you have a chance to stop it from hitting your child. Vaccinations for this Flu will be given in cities across this country up until 5:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon, but hurry, as there's only a limited supply to go around."

The Finsters see Doctor Lipschitz give his concerning speech on the TV at Chuckie's grandparents house. "I wouldn't worry," said Shirly, Chaz's mom. "As I always say, a slice of my home made apple pie, keeps the doctor away." She gives Chuckie and Kimmi a slice of apple pie. They start eating. "Grandma makes the best pie ever," Chuckie exclaimed. "Mmmm delicious," said Kimmi, as she takes another bite of pie.

"I'm sorry to say this Shirly and Marvin, but looks like we're going to have to head home early so we can get this vaccination for us, and our kids," said Kira. "We can't be too careful," Chaz added. "With us running a coffee shop now, we can't take any chances. Anyone could just, walk in, vaccinated or not vaccinated against this, Gray Plague." "Sorry you can't stay longer," Marvin said in a sad tone of voice as he looks over at his grand kids eating their pie. "It was nice having you while we could." "And Kimmi is just adorable," added Sherly.

Meanwhile, Lipschitz's speech comes across the television at uncle Freddy's. "Love to stay longer bro," said Beddy. "But I can't stand to have the Gray Plague harming the pups." "We'll leave tomorrow morning dear," said Howard, as he gets up off the couch and switches off the TV.

At Angelica's destination, she and her daddy are playing miniature golf while her mom attends a meeting. Suddenly, a vibration comes from Drew's pants pocket. He looks at his cell phone to find a text message from Angelica's preschool teacher. The message reads, "In order for Angelica to return to preschool after you return from your business trip, she must get the Gray Plague vaccination. It is deadly, and will only be available through Monday evening." Meanwhile, Charlotte walks out. Drew turns to her with a froun. "What's the matter dear?" asks Charlotte. "Looks like we're going to have to head home early, apparently there's some plague going around, and if we don't get Angelica vaccinated, she can't continue preschool," Drew added. Charlotte pulls out her cell phone and calls Jonathan. "Push back next week's meeting to next month, and hurry Jonathan, it's an emergency," she said. "If I don't take care of this now, my daughter's life could potentially end up on the line, not to mention, she'll have no chance at getting into Harvard if she can't even return to preschool." "Looks like we'll be heading home tomorrow," said Drew. "But daddy, you promised to take me to the Cynthia fashion show tomorrow," cried Angelica. "Sorry Angelica, but you can't always get what you want," said Drew in a rather stirn voice. "And if we don't take care of this now, well, it could lead to some serious problems down the road, you don't want to get sick to you?" Asked Drew. "No, but…" Angelica trailed off with a sigh, and turned away from her daddy, with a very sad look on her face.

Tommy's family is on the road in their car when Lipschitz's announcement about the plague comes over the radio. "Maybe we'd better turn around," said Didi. "And miss our weekend at the beach?" Stu asked. "But Pop and Lulu are expecting us!" Cried Stu. "Ok then, but we'll have to leave a day early then," said Didi. "Can't we leave on Monday? Lulu wants to take us to one of the best seafood restaurants there is for dinner Sunday night," said Stu as he turns into the parking lot. As he switches off the car, Didi sighs. "Well ok then, but first thing Monday morning, we're leaving."

Everyone gets out of the car as Lulu and Pop come out of their condo and gives everyone a hug. "I haven't been here since I was a little girl," said Lulu. "And now I get to share this grand experience with my new step son, daughter-in-law and grandsons," she added with a smile, as she takes Dil and Tommy into her arms. "Haven't seen a beach this good since the war," said Pop. "We were stuck there for 15 days, and I became known as Fisherman Pickles," he added.

Later that weekend, Tommy, wearing a blue bathing suit is playing on the beach when he spots another baby, wearing green swim trunks with black hair. "Hi, I'm Tommy," he said. The black haired boy smiles and says, "Hi, I'm Chongo. Wanna help me build a sand castle?" "Sure!" Tommy says. "And afterwards, we can dig wholes and look for buried treasure, and pretend we are pirates," he added. "That sounds like fun!" said Chongo.

The two of them play together on the beach. As they play, Chongo sneezes and coughs a lot. "Are you ok Chongo?" Tommy asks. "You sound like you might have a cold." "Oh I'm ok," Chonco said. "I'm use to it, I'm not the healthiest kid around, seeing my mommy and I must live outdoors." He points to a tall lady with long black hair, in a torn pink dress, getting together firewood and making a lean-two. "What's she doing?" Tommy asked. "Oh, my momnmy is building us a lean two," said Chongo. "It's a simple house made out of wood, with just enough protection to keep us dry at night if it rains." "Wow, so you and your mommy live outside all year long?" asked Tommy as he filled his bucket with sand. "Yeah, but I don't mind, living on the beach, it's like summer, all year long!" said Chongo with a smile.

Monday morning rolls around. As the sun rises, Angelica, Phil and Lil, and Chuckie's families, all pull into parking spaces at the flue clennic. As Beddy and Howard push the twins in their double stroller up to the door, followed by Chaz and Kira walking with Chuckie and Kimmi, and Drew, Charlotte and Angelica bringing up the rear, a security guard speaks loudly into a bull horn.

"Everyone must pick a number and wait in line for their turn. Once we're out of vaccinations, that's it. And finally, I should note that Nurse Happy will be checking you in once you get to the front of the line, and assisting in giving vaccinations will be our summer interns, Lizzie McGuire, Nina, Bobby Walker, Cousin Skeeter, TJ Hinderson, and if they ever stop playing video games down at the arcade, , Peter Hatcher, Lloyd Nebulon, and Marty will be assisting with this as well. Good luck, and good riddance, to the Gray Plague."

As the families wait in line, the babies have a conversation. "Chuckie? Kimmi?" said Phil and Lil in unison. "Phil? Lil?" said Kimmi and Chuckie back in unison. "What are you doing here?" Chuckie asked. "We're here to get some shot," said Phil. "Something about a Gray Plague," added Lil. "That's what Chuckie and I are here for too," added Kimmi. "I'm afraid of shots, they sting," said Chuckie, as he shivers in fear. "No worries Chuckie, I'll be here with ya, that's what sisters are for," said Kimmi with a smile. "All I know is, I had to miss my Cynthia fashion show to get this stupid shot that should only be given to stupid dumb babies who don't know any better," said Angelica in a loud, angry voice. "So if I must get this stupid shot, let's get it done and over with already, and make it snappy!" She continued, shouting at the top of her lungs as she pushes her way past the babies towards the front of the line.

A tall, large security guard dressed in black stops her. "Young lady? You need to go back with your parents, and get your vaccination when your number is called," he shouted. "But… But… But…" Angelica cried. "No buts," said the security guard, as he grabbed Angelica's hand and took her back to her parents. Meanwhile, Chuckie asks Kimmi and the twins, "I wonder where Tommy and Dil are? Shouldn't they be getting shots too?"

Back at the beach, it's now 8:00 a.m. and the Pickles are just getting in their car, about to pull away from the parking lot. "We should have left earlier," said Didi in an exasperated tone of voice. "Don't worry didi," said Stu. "Thanks to my latest and greatest invention, the Stu Pickles GPS, we'll make it home in no time." Stu punches in some numbers on a remote control pointed at a small rectangular box with a screen hanging on the rear view mirror. Nothing happens. Then Stu pulls out a microphone attached to the bottom left-hand corner of the rectangular box. "Take us to the Flue Clennic, at 66 Haywood Street," said Stu. A female robotic voice talks from the box. "Drive 2 tenth of a mile, turn right on to Highway 692." The Pickles turn on to this highway, only to get stuck in a major traffic jam, with wall to wall cars, all the way down the street. Tommy and Dil are in the backseat of the car, drinking their bottles of milk, Tommy is snuggling up with a Reptar doll while Dil is snuggling up with Goober, as the Pickles' car, slows down, to a snail's pace.

Will the Pickles make it home in time for Tommy and Dil to get vaccinated against the Gray Plague? Find out, in chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

Recap of Chapter 1:

If you missed reading chapter 1, here's what has happened thus far. All of the families go away for the weekends, Angelica's on a business ttrip, Chuckie and Kimmi go to visit their daddy's parents, Phil and Lil go to visit their uncle Freddy, and Tommy and Dil go to stay for the weekend in a condo at the beach with grandpa Lou and grandma Lulu. Over the course of the weekend, everybody hears about the Gray Plague, a terrible Flu that is deadly, but is especially fatal in children ages 3 and under, and vaccinations against this plague will only be available at a special clenic through Monday. The families all make arrangements to head home early from their trips except for Tommy's, who's been invited to dinner by Lulu on Sunday, pushing their departure from the beach on Monday morning. Meanwhile, Tommy meets a poor baby boy named Chongo, who is quite sick with a nasty cold. But they play together anyway, and have fun despite Chongo's ill health.

Finally, Monday morning comes along. Everyone is in line at the clenic waiting to get their shot, except for Tommy and Dil, who thanks to a snag in their daddy's newest invention, a GPS system, they end up in a traffic jam. Will they make it home in time to receive their vaccinations at the clenic? Let's move on to chapter 2, and find out!

Chapter 2

Monday is the longest day ever, as the Rugrats see to getting vaccinated against the Gray Plague. In the line at the clenic, the Devilles finally reach the front of the line. Nurse Happy pulls Beddy aside, and hands her a stack of forms. "Please fill out these forms while we get your twins ready to receive their vaccinations," said Nurse Happy. "We'll have to sedate them for this, as this vaccination is very painful." "You mean, put them to sleep?" Asked Beddy. "No, it's more of a local effect, numming their bodies from the neck line down," replied Nurse Happy. "Though you may want to be prepared to give them some Tylonol before bed tonight, in case the effect wares off while they're sleeping," Nurse Happy continued. Nina takes Phil and Lil out of their stroller and gives them the local anniseaia. "You won't feel a thing," Nina said. "It will be over before you know it." Nina injects them with the Annisesia, and they wait for 10 minutes for it to take effect. "I feel funny," said Phil. "Me too," added Lil. Phil and Lil slowly drift off, and start to daydream about muds and worms. Nina sees that they're calm, so she injects each twin's left arm with the shot, and puts a bandaid on to each arm.

The Finsters are next in line to receive their vaccinations. It's Lizzie Mcguire's turn to give the vaccination, while Kira is filling out the stack of forms presented to her by Nurse Happy. While Kimmi's vaccination goes well, sedating her, giving her the shot, and putting a bandage on her arm, Chuckie is not too sure about this. As he shakes in line, he says, "I don't think this is such a good idea." "Calm down Chuckie," Kimmi said. "You won't feel a thing," she added. But Chuckie isn't convinced, and starts to cry. Berrying his face into his daddy's stomach, his crying gets louder. Angelica, who's behind them in line, can't stand it, and screams, "Since Chuckie's such a dumb chicken, I want to get my shot right now so I c an go home and watch the rest of the Cynthia fashion show on TV," she shouted. "Miss Carrolle is one of the judges," she added. Outraged, Charlotte says, "I can't believe they let that woman back on television, what is this world coming to?"

As Chuckie continues to cry, Nurse Happy agrees to let Angelica step forward to receive her vaccination, and Drew fills out the paper work. Bobby walker gives Angelica her shot. "You won't feel a thing," said Bobby. "I know that Sir," Angelica replied. "I'm not some dumb baby, I think I can handle this stupid shot," She added. "Now, give me the shot!" She screamed.

While Angelica is getting vaccinated, Chaz asks Kira to save their place in line, while he takes Chuckie outside for some air. They return 15 minutes later, with Chuckie calmed down, and hugging WahWah. "Is it ok for my son to hold his teddy bear during the vaccination?" Asked Chaz. "It might help him to stay calm." Nurse Happy agrees to let Chuckie snuggle up with his bear during the vaccination, and Chuckie gets the shot.

Out on the highway, the traffic continues to move at a snail's pace, as Tommy and Dil's family, inch their way down the road. It is nearly 3 in the afternoon before the traffic finally lifts, and the Pickles can drive at a faster pace. "I don't think we're going to make it," Didi cried. "Don't panic Didi," said Stu. "We'll make it," he added, as he turns off highway 692 and takes exit 45, driving into town. In the backseat of the car, Tommy turns to Dil. "Wow, I've never seen a car drive so slow before," said Tommy. "But we had fun, right Dilly?" He added. Dil lets out a giggle. "We ate the snacks mommy brought us, and played with our blocks and puzzle, and we even watched Reptar on DVD!" Said Tommy in a happy voice, as he held up the portable DVD player, displaying a main menu screen with Reptar's picture on it.

The clock reads 4:30 p.m. as the Pickles turn into a nearly deserted parking lot at the clenic. "Hurry Stue," Didi cried as she gets Tommy and Dil out of the car, and the 4 of them, rush to the door of the clenic.

Inside the clenic, Nurse Happy locks up the door and sais with a sigh, "We made it through a long day of vaccinations, and only have one vaccine left." Suddenly, she hears pounding at the door. "Anybody in there?" Didi shouts. Nurse Happy grumbles and opens the door. "Oh I'm sorry mam, we're closed." Didi nearly breaks down in tears. "Now now mam, you can bring your kids back next year," Nurse Happy added. "But by then, it might be too late," Didi shouted. Stu spots the leftover vaccination on the table. "Wait, it appears there's one vaccination left." "Yeah, but there's two children here, and my intern, Lloyd Nebulon, who's suppose to be giving the final shot of the day, is nowhere to be found." Suddenly, Francine pokes her head out from behind a curtain at the back of the room, and using her brain waves, she lifts the vaccination from the table, laughing her head off. "My big brother's a dork so I'll give the shot," said Francine, giggling. "You're too little," added Nurse Happy. Suddenly, using her brain waves, Francine lifts Dil out of Didi's arms, and starts giving him the vaccination. Dil starts screaming at the top of his lungs.

"You're hurting my child! Stop it!" Didi screamed as she chases after Francine and Dil. But try as she might, she cannot grab a hold of him. Francine continues to poke the needle into his arm, as Dil continues to scream. "Put the child down at once, or I'll be forced to call your mom, Commander Nora Nebulon," ordered Nurse Happy. Francine drops Dil on the floor, and Nurse Happy picks him up. She rubs his back and puts a bandage on his arm. Noticing there are no more vaccinations, she says, "Well, that's it everyone, we're out of vaccinations. Have a nice day."

As the Pickles climb into their car, Stu says, "It was best that Dil got the shot. He is the youngest after all, and don't worry about Tommy, he's the healthiest child there is." "Well ok," said Didi. "But I never want to go through another day like today, again," she added in a very angry tone, as she straps Tommy and Dil into their car seats and gets into the car. As they're driving away from the clenic, Didi adds, "And another thing, after today, I'm too tired to fix dinner, so let's go out to eat." As they drive down the street, Stu spots Taco King to the right, "You read my mind," Stu said, turning into the parking lot.

The Pickles walk into the noisy, crowded restaurant. "Let's go home," Didi said. "No wait," Stu said as he points to a large table in the back of the restaurant. At the large table, he spots the Devilles, the Finsters, and Angelica's family.

"We thought you'd never make it," said Beddy. "Did you make it to the clenic in time to get the boys vaccinated?" Asked Howard. "Yes, but they only had one vaccine left, so Dil got the shot," replied Didi as she puts Tommy and Dil in a booster seat along with the other rugrats.

"Where's your bandage Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. "I don't need the shot," Tommy said, smiling. "My daddy says I'm the healthiest baby in the whole wide world!" "Well, you're never sick," said Phil. "And you always eat good food," added Lil. "Don't think he'll get off that easily," said Angelica in a mean tone of voice. "Everyone knows the bald babies are most likely to catch the Gray Plague," added Angelica. "That's not true Angelica," shouted Tommy. "You just wait and see, I won't catch this Gray Plague," Tommy added.

But is Tommy right? Will he avoid the Gray Plague all together? Find out, in chapter 3.


	3. Chapter 3

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

Recap of Chapter 2:

In this chapter, everybody gets their vaccinations except for Tommy, because they were short one vaccine by the time his family made it to the clenic, at practically closing time. Because Dil was the youngest member of the Pickles family, and more proan to catching the Gray Plague, he got the shot instead. But Tommy's not worried, since he believes his daddy, that he's the healthiest baby in the whole wide world. But Angelica tells him differently, that he won't make it. Tommy doesn't believe her, figuring he'll bypass The Gray Plague all together. So, now the real question, who's correct? Tommy? Or Angelica? Let's find out, in chapter 3!

Chapter 3

It's the next day, and the babies are all playing at Tommy's house. They're in Tommy and Dil's playpen in the living room, rolling Tommy's green and blue ball with the orange star on it around to one another, and talking about their weekends away with various relatives. Everyone's bandages are no longer on their arms now, except for Dil's. Phil grabs the ball. "Uncle Freddy's the greatest!" He said. "He gave me and Lil lots of hugs and kisses!" He rolls the ball to Lil. "I liked uncle Freddy's chocolate chip cookies! They were delicious!"

Lil rolls the ball to Chuckie. "Grandma made me and Kimmi some apple pie! She says, a slice of apple pie a day, keeps the doctor away." He rolls the ball to Kimmi. "And my new grandma and grandpa gave me a new Reptar doll, which we can play with the next time you guys come over!" She then rolls the ball to Dil, who picks it up, and throws it at Tommy's head. "I don't wanna play rolly ball anymore," said Tommy as he stands up off the floor and fetches his screwdriver out of his diaper. "Let's go play outside."

In the backyard, the babies sit around the outside of the sandbox, digging wholes in the sand. Suddenly, Tommy stops digging. "You ok?" Chuckie asks. "Yeah, I just don't want to play in the sandbox anymore," Tommy replied. "So what are we going to do now?" Asked Kimmi. Suddenly, Didi walks outside carrying a stack of lunchboxes in her hand, and Taffy follows. "Good afternoon mini's," says Taffy with a smile. "Ready to go have some lunch at the park on this beautiful day?" "Thanks for watching the kids this afternoon, while I go register for classes at the college for the fall semester," said Didi, as she sets down the lunchboxes into the Reptar wagon. "I'll be by Chuckie and Kimmi's house late this afternoon to pick them up." She added, as she walks back into the house.

"Come on Mini's," said Taffy as she rounded up the kids and loaded them into the Reptar wagon. "Let's go to the park and have some lunch." Kimmi sits at the steering wheel of the Reptar wagon in front, with Phil and Lil behind her, Dil next to the lunchboxes, and Tommy and Chuckie ride in back. As Taffy pushes them down the sidewalk headed towards the park, Tommy's face turns a funny pale green color. ""Are you ok Tommy? You don't look so good," said Chuckie. "I'm fine," said Tommy. The babies and Taffy arrive at the park.

Taffy sits them down in a circle on the grass, and hands each baby a sandwich, except for Dil who she spoon feeds some carrots to. All of the babies take a bite out of their sandwiches as soon as Taffy hands it to them, except for Tommy, who puts his sandwich down on the ground. "Don't you want your sandwich Tommy?" Kimmi asks. Tommy replies, "No, I'm not hungry. I'm gonna go play on the slide." As Tommy heads over to the slide, there's a big kid at the top, wearing a red shirt, blue shorts, and has dark hair. "You'd better move out of my way bald headed baby," the kid yells in a loud, ugly voice. "Big kid, coming through." But before Tommy can move, the big kid comes down the slide, knocking Tommy over backwards, into a mud puddle. Tommy starts to cry, and Taffy stops feeding Dil, rushing over to him. "Oh dear," she sighed. "We'd better get you cleaned up." She looks in the lunchboxes, only to find there are no more wipes. "Looks like we'll have to head to the Finster's house earlier than planned," She said in a sad tone. She loads everyone into the Reptar wagon, and they leave the park.

Later, at Chuckie's house, Angelica and the babies are out in the backyard. Tommy is cleaned up, and the babies are playing with Kimmi's new Reptar doll. Suddenly, Tommy sits down on the ground. "Let's go inside," he said. "What, little baby tired of playing outside?" Angelica asks in a nasty voice, as she walks up to Kimmi, who's holding her new Reptar doll at the time, and snatches it out of her hand. "I'll give you dumb babies a new game to play, go find Reptar." As she says this, Angelica throws Kimmi's Reptar doll in the direction of their treehouse. The Reptar doll, lands on the roof of the treehouse.

At that moment, Kira walks out. "I smell a few diaper changes in the air," she says as she picks up Dil, and leads Kimmi, Phil, and Lil into the house. Angelica follows them inside. "I'm off to watch Shirly Lock Colms, and you babies better not interrupt me!" Angelica screams. "Besides, you babies have a Reptar to rescue, now go get it!" She added as she slams the backdoor shut.

"Come on Tommy," said Chuckie. "Let's go rescue my sister's toy." Tommy turns to Chuckie, his face looks even pailer than before. "Um, Chuckie, I don't feel so good." Tommy said. "But we have to rescue Kimmi's Reptar doll," said Chuckie. "And I'm too scared to climb up there and get it." "Ok," Tommy sighed. He crawls towards the treehouse and climbs the ladder. "Outch!" Screams Tommy as he nears the top. "Hold on Tommy, I'm coming," says Chuckie as he gets up and runs towards the treehouse. He climbs the ladder and helps Tommy the rest of the way up, till they get to the balcony at the top.

Chuckie spots the Reptar doll at the top on the roof. "I can't reach it," Chuckie says, as he reaches up towards the Reptar doll, missing it by several inches. "You'll have to climb on top of me and reach it Tommy, it's the only way," Chuckie added. He crouched down and Tommy climbed up on top of him. Able to reach the Reptar doll, he gets it down from the roof of the treehouse, but as he comes down, he collapses on his back, falling backwards on to the floor of the balcony.

Suddenly, the sky opens up and it starts to rain. "Tommy, we need to go inside," says Chuckie. But Tommy doesn't move. He lies there, motionless, with his eyes closed, unresponsive. "Tommy, can you hear me?" Yells Chuckie as he takes the Reptar doll from Tommy. He looks over the side of the treehouse, down at the yard and the backdoor of the house. Scared, Chuckie screams as a clap of thunder rumbles and a flash of lightning flashes before Chuckie's eyes.

Inside the kitchen, Chaz looks out the kitchen window. "Oh no," he cries. "Chuckie and Tommy are still outside!" Chaz runs outside with an umbrella and gets Tommy and Chuckie down from the treehouse. Chuckie runs inside and Chaz carries Tommy. Once inside, Chuckie finds the rest of the gang in the living room. He runs over to Phil, Lil, Kimmi and Dil, who are all playing on the floor. "Guys, I think something's wrong with Tommy," says Chuckie in a worried voice. "You don't think he has…" says Phil. "The Gray Plague?" adds Lil. "Of course he does," says Angelica. "And pipe down, I'm trying to watch TV here." Continues Angelica as she turns towards the TV, where she's watching Sherly Lock Colms and stuffing her face with cookies.

In the kitchen, Chaz and Kira, examine Tommy. Kira takes his temperature. "Oh my, Tommy has a high fever," says Kira. "We'd better call his parents and have them come pick him up right away." Chaz looks at a Lipschitz book. "According to Lipschitz," he says. "We should give Tommy a bath in cold water, to bring down his high fever." "Well, Didi won't be here for another hour," added Kira. "Let's give it a try."

They take Tommy up to the bathtub and put him into the cold bath. The other rugrats spy Chuckie's parents taking Tommy up to the bathroom and follow behind. Chuckie, Kimmi, Phil and Lil watch from the bathroom door, as Kira and Chaz, give Tommy a bath in the cold water. Suddenly, Tommy's eyes open, and he sneezes, coughs, and shivers. Feeling his body, Chaz says, "Tommy feels cooler to me, let's take him out of the water, and get him dried off." They wrap Tommy in a towel and get him dried off. As they're doing this, the phone rings. Kira and Chaz run to answer it, leaving Tommy in the bathroom.

The babies approach him. "How are you feeling Tommy?" Asks Chuckie. "Maybe Angelica's right," says Tommy in a shaky, sad voice. "Maybe I do have the Gray Plague." Tommy sneezes. "Bless you," says Chuckie, as he reaches up and pulls a tissue off from the counter and hands it to Tommy.

Shortly afterwards, Didi walks into the bathroom, and scoops up Tommy. Taking one look at him, "Oh my sweetie, you don't look good at all," She says. "I'd better get Dil and take you 2 home." Later on that night, back at Tommy's house in the kitchen, Tommy and Dil are at the kitchen table. Didi puts down a bowl of soup in front of Tommy. "You need to eat something sweetie," she said. "And this will make you feel better." But Tommy just covers his face and starts moaning. Didi sighs. "I guess I'll just, put you to bed then." As she scoops up Tommy in her arms, she asks Stu, who is over to the side, feeding Dil some sweet potatoes, "Can you get Dil ready for bed? I'm going to get Tommy to bed. He has definitely come down with something." Stu replies, "Sure thing dear," as Didi walks out of the room.

Later that night, when everyone is in bed, Dil wakes up in his crib. "Tommy Tommy," Dil cries. Tommy wakes up in his bed, and looks over at Dil, he febally stands up and gets out of bed. "I'm coming… Dil," as he says between coughs. As he walks towards Dil's crib, he starts to get dizzy, and falls down on the floor. He starts to have trouble breathing, and his face turns blue. Gasping for air, Dil cries, "Tommy," again. Tommy doesn't answer him, as he continues to lie there, face down, having trouble breathing. Dil hears Tommy gasping for air, and starts crying.

Meanwhile, Stu and Didi are down the hall in their bed, when they start hearing Dil crying over the baby moniter. "Oh my gosh!" says Stu, as he shakes Didi and gets her to wake up. "Something's wrong, we'd better go check on the kids." Stu adds. Didi and Stu get out of bed, and head to the boys room, where they find Dil crying, and Tommy on the floor, unable to breethe. Didi picks up Tommy. "Oh my goodness Stu, Tommy needs a hospital right away." "But Didi, it's the middle of the night!" Stu exclaims. "Tommy is dying," adds Didi. "And if it wasn't for your stupid invention, we would have made it to the clenic in time for him to get his shot, and we wouldn't be in this mess." "Oh, wait a moment." She added. "Who's going to stay here and watch Dil?" "No worries, we'll leave Dil with Beddy and Howard," says Stu as he snatches Dil up out of the crib. "Let's go."

At Phil and Lil's house, the twins are sound asleep in their cribs, when Beddy bursts into the room carrying Dil in a car seat. "Looks like you pups will be babysitting Dil," says Beddy as she puts Dil's car seat down on the floor. The twins awoke and heard her say all of this. As soon as Beddy left the room, Dil started crying. The twins get out of their beds and rush over to Dil. "What's wrong with Dil?" Asks Phil. "I don't know," replies Lil. "If we don't stop him from crying, we'll never get to sleep." Says Phil. "I don't know," says Lil. "What makes us happy?" Asks Phil. In unison, they both shout happily, "Mud!" Phil reaches under neath his crib and pulls out a huge pile of dirt. "What's this doing here?" Asked Lil. "I've been saving it for an emergency," replied Phil, as he throws the dirt in Dil's direction. Dil stops crying and starts drooling all over the pile of dirt. He then throws the drooled on dirt into Phil and Lil's faces. "Taking care of baby Dil isn't going to be easy," said Lil. "And dirt mixed with spit isn't exactly my favorite flavor," said Phil. "You spit in your own dirt all the time Phillip," added Lil. "But it's my own spit not Dil's Lillian." Argued Phil. They sigh in unison.

Meanwhile, Stu, Didi, and Tommy, have made it to the hospital. A nurse looks up and sees Tommy, bluer than ever in Didi's arms. "Come on, it appears you guys need help right away," says the nurse. She escorts them back to a medical room. Two doctors are waiting for them, a male and a female. "I'm Doctor Doogie Howser," said the male doctor. "And I'm Doctor McStuffin's," said the female doctor. "But I thought you only doctored toys," said Didi. "Oh, you must be thinking of my daughter, we call her Doc," said Doctor McStuffins. "Let's examine your son, Tommy isn't it?" Asked Dr. Howser. "Yes sir," replied Stu. Dr. Howser and Dr. McStuffins examine Tommy. "Afraid this child definitely has a case, of the Gray Plague," said Dr. Howser. He picks up a walki-talki, and talks into it. "Child number 420, coming down to the Gray Plague ICU unit for respiration and treatment, Over." "Is my son going to be ok?" Asked Didi. "It's too early to know," replied Doctor McStuffins, as she took Tommy from Didi's arms, and the 2 doctors, walk away with Tommy to another room. Later, Stu and Didi catch up with them, and find Tommy is in bed, and hooked up to a series of machines, including an IV in one arm, and a tube in his mouth.

At the Finster's house, Chuckie is rolling around in bed, moaning. Kimmi hears him and wakes up in her bed across the room. "What's wrong Chuckie?" Kimmi asks as she sits up in bed. "I can't sleep. I'm worried about Tommy," said Chuckie as he sits up in bed and dangles his feet towards the floor, hugging WahWah. "What if Angelica was right? What if Tommy does have the Gray Plague." He added. "No worries Chuckie," replied Kimmi. "I'm sure Tommy will be just fine." She continued as she lay back down, and pulled the covers back up. "I'm going back to sleep," yawned Kimmi. "I'll see you in the morning." As she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Chuckie, still sitting up on the side of his bed, with eyes wide open, hugging Wahwah says, "Oh WahWah, what if… Tommy isn't coming back? I might not… might not… have a bestest friend anymore." Chuckie continued, as tears rolled down his face.

This concludes chapter 3. So, what do you all think? Will Chuckie ever sleep again? Can Phil and Lil babysit baby Dil without totally going crazy, and drowning in mud and spit? And most importantly, will Tommy get over the Gray Plague, getting released from the hospital, and living to see another day? Find out, as our story continues, in chapter 4.


	4. Chapter 4

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

Recap of Chapter 3: If you completely skipped over this chapter, then you don't know the signs that the Gray Plague is on its way to hitting tommy. In this chapter, it starts off as a typical play date at Tommy's house. Only while everyone else is having fun, Tommy is getting bored. Later, they go to the park with their babysitter Taffy, only to have Tommy lose his appetite, and get pushed down into the mud by a big bully coming down the slide. They head to Chuckie's house, where while things get better, it's only temporary, as they only get worse when Angelica throws Kimmi's new Reptar on to the roof of their treehouse, leaving Tommy and Chuckie to go rescue it. They rescue the toy, but Tommy collapses after the rescue, having to be carried inside by Chuckie's daddy, and they come to discover, that he has a very high fever.

While a cold bath brings him back to life, his appetite doesn't return at dinner time, and in the middle of the night, he has trouble breathing. In the end, Tommy ends up in the hospital in an ICU unit on life support, Dil gets left at the Deville's to be babysat by Phil and Lil, who don't have the best of luck with this job, and poor Chuckie, can't sleep, and is worried that he may be losing his best friend. So now, what will happen? Will the Rugrats continue to live in tragedy? Or does every cloud have a silver lining. Let's see what happens, in chapter 4.

Chapter 4

The following morning, everyone is over at Phil and Lil's house, playing in their playpen in their living room. Chuckie, Phil and Lil, all look very sleepy. "What's wrong?" Asked Kimmi. ""We're tired," answered Lil. "Dil kept us up all night," added Phil in a very tired tone. "And I'm worried about Tommy," said Chuckie. "I'm worried he's gotten worser overnight, after what I saw yesterday." "Chuckie woke me up too," said Kimmi, as she hands Dil's raddle to him. "I got back to sleep though." Dil giggles and throws his raddle at Phil, hitting him in the head."Ow!" yells Phil.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Betty answers the door. It is Stu, coming to pick up Dil. He too looks very tired. "Thanks for watching Dil," says Stu to Beddy in a very tired voice. Betty yawns, "You're welcome Stu, and no worries, I'm tired too. Guess last night was just, a night of ansomnia." Chuckie spies Tommy's daddy and smiles. "Hey guys, maybe Tommy is ok after all." Phil answers in a not so happy tone, "I don't think so." Empty handed Stu heads towards the playpen, picks up Dil, and walks out the front door. Chuckie's smile fades away, as he watches Stu and Dil disappear out the front window.

"Great," says Chuckie. "Now we still don't know what's going on." Kimmi then stands up excitedly. "Hey, don't you guys live next to Tommy and Dil?" Asked Kimmi. "Yeah," replied Phil. Kimmi continued smiling, "Then let's go nextdoor and find out what's going on with Tommy." She does a summersalt over the side of the playpen, landing in a sitting position on the other side. "Wow Kimmi," said Chuckie, "I didn't know you could do that!" "There's lots of things you don't know about me," said Kimmi. When Chuckie, Phil and Lil try attempting the same summersalt, they all tried to do it at the same time, resulting in the playpen falling over on its side, and the 4 babies, head through the kitchen, and out into the backyard.

Once outside, Kimmi looks in both directions. "Which way do we go?" She asked. Suddenly, they hear Spike barking in the next yard. "Follow Spike's voice," shouted Phil, as the babies head towards that direction. They get as far as the fence, when Kimmi says, "How are we going to get over this fence? It's too tall." "No worries Kimmi," replied Lil, as she sits down on the ground, and crawls under the fence where the loose board is. Phil, Kimmi and Chuckie follow Lil into Tommy's yard. Spike runs to the kitchen door, barking to come inside. Stu opens it to let him inside, and before he can close it, the other babies hurry in after Spike.

Stu closes the door and walks off, not even noticing the babies, quietly huddled together in a corner. Once Stu is out of site, Kimmi says, "Let's look for Tommy guys." Everybody splits up and goes in separate directions. Phil and Lil look around the kitchen, but find nobody. Kimmi goes upstairs, looking in all of the bedrooms, and finds nobody except Dil taking a nap in his crib. Chuckie looks in the living room. He comes to the playpen, where he finds Tommy's plastic screwdriver lying on the floor in plain sight. "Oh no," cried Chuckie. "Now I really know it, Tommy is really gone."But before Chuckie could pick up the screwdriver for safe keeping, Spike grabs it up in his mouth and runs off with it. Chuckie chases him through the living room, till they get to the entry hallway. By this time, Phil, Lil and Kimmi are in the entry hallway closet. The doorbell rings and Spike barks, dropping the screwdriver out of his mouth in the process. But before Chuckie could reach it, it rolls through the open basement door, and down the stairs. "Uh oh," Chuckie mudders as Stu goes to open the door.

It's Beddy. "Where are my kids? I've been looking for them everywhere!" Kimmi, Phil and Lil come out of the closet, and Chuckie runs over to meet them. "How did you guys get here?" Asked Beddy as she scooped everybody up in her arms. "Sorry kids," said Stu. "But Tommy isn't here." "You'll have to come back some other time to play." "Which reminds me Beddy, do you mind watching Dil again this evening while I go pay Tommy and Didi a visit at the hospital?" "Actually, I'm leaving everybody at the Carmichael's tonight, while I work at the Java Lava," replied Beddy. "I'll see you later Stu," as she walks away from Tommy's house.

Later that day, the babies are over at Susie's house. They're playing with toys in her living room, everyone looks happy except Chuckie. "What's wrong Chuckie?" Susie asked. Chuckie replied, "Tommy's gone." Susie added, "He's not gone, he's in the hopcicle." "The… Hopcicle?" Phil asked in a hesitant tone. "Oh no! What will we do?" Asked Lil. "Don't worry guys." Said Susie. "My mommy is off to her job at the hopcicle, where she'll see that Tommy gets better."

Suddenly, Lucy and Randy walk into the room. Lucy walks over to Susie and the other babies. "Can I count on you to play with the babies and be good for daddy while I go do my job at the hospital and check on Tommy?" Lucy asked Susie. She smiled up at her mom. "Yes," she replied. Lucy gives Susie a kiss on the forehead, and as she walks out the front door, she says, "You kids be good, and I'll make arrangements for you to come visit Tommy tomorrow," she said as she walked out the door, closing it behind her.

"Did you hear that you guys?" Asked Chuckie as he stood up excitedly. "We're gonna see Tommy tomorrow!" He continued. "And we can get Tommy out of that hopcicle and back home with us," added Kimmi. "I don't know about that guys," said Susie. "But I know of something we can do right now, that will make Tommy feel better." At that moment, Angelica storms into the room.

"There's nothing you babies can do," she said in a nasty tone. "I already told ya, Tommy's got the Gray Plague, and there's nothing you dumb babies can do about it." "Oh yes there is Angelica," replied Susie. "And I'm going to help them." She added. "Fine!" yelled Angelica. "Go ahead and try, but don't come to me if your pressus baldy friend doesn't ever come back. I'm off to play with Cynthia." Angelica snatches up Cynthia and heads out of the room.

"So what are we gonna do?" Asked Kimmi. "We're gonna make get well cards." Replied Susie. "What's a get well card?" Asked Lil. Susie replied, "A get well card is kind of like a Valentine, only you draw pictures of things Tommy likes to make him feel better." "That's a great idea," said Chuckie with a smile. "Then let's do it, let's make Tommy our very own get well card," Kimmi added." "Ok then, you babies wait right here, while I go get us some crayons, markers and paper, to make our very own get well cards," said Susie with a smile as she turned to leave the living room.

In her daddy's office, she overhears him on the telephone. "Yes Paul, I'll get the new Dummy Bears story to you right away, in fact, I'm working on it right now," Randy says into the phone, as he continues typing away on a computer that's in front of him. In a different part of the room, Susie opens a drawer, and takes out paper, crayons and markers, and heads back to the living room. "Ok babies, we're all ready to make Tommy's get well cards," Susie says with a smile as she walks back into the living room, and hands each baby a piece of paper, some markers, and crayons. Everybody gets to work on making their cards.

"I'm gonna draw some dandelions," said Chuckie. "I'm gonna draw Reptar!" Exclaimed Phil. "I'm gonna draw Tommy some mud pies," added Lil. "That's our favoritest thing Lillian, not Tommy's," said Phil. "So, Tommy will play in the mud sometimes, Phillip," argued Lil. "I'm drawing Okie Dokie Jones, dressed as a pirate on the beach," said Kimmi. "Since Tommy likes to play in the sand, play pirates, and likes Okie Dokie Jones," Kimmi added. "What are you drawing Susie?" Asked Chuckie. "I'm drawing Tommy a picture of Happy Bear from the Dummy Bears," replied Susie.

Dil throws a crayon at Susie's head. "Uh oh guys, what about Dil?" Asked Chuckie. "Shouldn't we help him make a get well card too?" Chuckie continued. "He's kind of too little to make it by himself." "No worry guys," said Susie. "I'll help him make a get well card, and I know the perfect thing for Dil's get well card to Tommy. After all, they are brothers." Dil picks up a red crayon and puts it in his mouth. Susie takes the crayon away from him. "That's not for eating Dil," said Susie. "We're gonna use it to make a nice picture for your brother Tommy." "Tommy Tommy," Dil cried. Susie sits down next to Dil on the floor with a piece of paper and some crayons, and gets to work. When she's finished, she holds up the card and shows it to the other babies.

"What's that?" Asked Kimmi. "That's a rainbow," replied Chuckie. "Oooh, it's so prettiful," added Lil. "That's right guys," said Susie. "Dil's gonna give Tommy a rainbow, because rainbows make people happy too." The babies look at their get well cards, and admire them for several minutes. Angelica walks into the room, carrying a pink fan and her Cynthia doll. "Boy am I hot," she said. "Luckily I have my Cynthia fan to keep me nice and cool." She turns on the fan, and it starts blowing the babies get well cards all over the room. The babies start running all over, chasing after them.

At the hospital, Tommy has a dream, where he's standing outside, and a large, gray cloud with an evil looking face, appears in front of him. The cloud starts talking. "Ah, my next victum," said the cloud. "Huh?" Asked Tommy. "Why I'm the Gray Plague," said the cloud in an evil female voice. "And I'm here to destroy you," she continued. Tommy picks up a shield off the ground. "You'll never destroy me," Tommy added, as he picks up a treebranch and throws it at her. " The cloud laughs, takes a deep breath, and breethes out some nasty green liquid in Tommy's direction. Tommy tries to run away, but gets dizzy and falls over. The green liquid covers Tommy, drowning him. Suddenly, Tommy wakes up.

Now in the ICU unit, Tommy is in bed, awake and breathing on his own. He looks around the room, to see several other people lying in beds, with tubes sticking out of their mouths, and IV polls attached to their arms. At that moment, Lucy, Stu and Didi walk into the room.

"How's our patient?" Asked Dr. Carmichael as she approaches Tommy, and touches his forehead. "It appears you don't need this anymore," as she removes the breathing tube from Tommy's mouth. Tommy coughs and takes several breaths on his own. "But you still have a high fever," She added. Dr. Carmichael turns to Didi and Stu. "We'll keep Tommy in the ICU overnight, just to make sure he's ok," said Dr. Carmichael. "And if he's ok?" Asked Stu. "We'll move Tommy to a different room tomorrow, and start giving him some nurishment," added Dr. Carmichael. "We want to make sure he's eating and breathing ok, and get his fever down some before he goes home," she continued as she took Tommy's blood pressure and listened to his heart and lungs. "Thank you Dr. Carmichael," said Stu as he turns to leave the room with the doctor. Didi reaches over and holds Tommy's free arm that's not hooked up to the IV. "Everything's gonna be ok," Said Didi looking over at Tommy. "We love you," as she blew him a kiss and left the room. As soon as they're gone, Tommy's eyes close, and he falls back to sleep.

Back at Susie's house, all of the parents show up at the front door. Lucy opens the door to find the babies running around, chasing after the get well cards. There's also a debree of several books and papers on the floor, and Chuckie runs into a table, knocking a plant over and making a mess. "Turn that fan off Angelica!" Shouted Susie as she starts chasing after her. "Never!" Replies Angelica in an angry tone of voice, as she runs into a corner. Once there, Susie runs up to her, snatches the fan out of Angelica's hand, and turns it off. The get well cards fall to the floor, and the babies pick them up, and collapse and catch their breath.

Charlotte marches up to Angelica. "Young lady?" Said Charlotte. "You're gonna help clean up this mess," she continued in a stirn tone of voice. "But… But… I didn't do it!" Shouted Angelica. "Yes you did," Susie replied. "Because you don't want Tommy to get better, so you decided to destroy our beautiful get well cards," Susie added. "Actually, Tommy is doing better," added Lucy. "But I'm not sure if tomorrow is the best day to go and see him. Maybe it would be best, if we wait another day before we take you for a visit," she continued.

The next day at Chuckie's house, Chuckie, Kimmi, Phil and Lil are in the yard. Chuckie spies the Reptar wagon. "What's Tommy's Reptar wagon doing here?" He asked. "Don't you remember? Taffy brought us home from the park in it the other day," Kimmy replied. "But what's it doing in our yard?" Asked Chuckie. "Maybe they forgotted it when they left," added Kimmi. "Maybe we should go pay Tommy a visit at the hopcicle ourselves, give him back his Reptar wagon, and get him home," said Lil. "Um, I don't know about that, Susie's mommy did say we shouldn't go see him today," added Chuckie. "But Chuckie, don't you want your bestest friend back?" Asked Phil. "Yeah, but the last time we left the yard in this wagon, we ended up in a forrest and got losted for days and chased by baby monkeys," said Chuckie. "Um, we did?" Asked Kimmi. "Uh, oh yeah, we didn't know you back then. We barely knew Dil when that happened," said Chuckie. "Still though, it sounds like fun! And if you were in the hopcicle, what do you think Tommy would do?" Asked Kimmi. "He'd most likely try to come and save me," replied Chuckie. "Ok Kimmi, you've been hanging around me and Tommy for too long, this is something he'd do, convince me to go on an adventure," added Chuckie. "Great! Then let's go rescue Tommy!" Exclaimed Kimmi, as she grabbed her get well card, and climbed into the front of the Reptar wagon. "But how are we gonna get to the hopcicle anyway?" Asked Phil. "We don't even know where it is," added Lil. "Sure we do," added Kimmi, as she pointed down the street to some paramedics carrying a man on a stretcher into the back of an ambulance. "That ambulance will go to the hopcicle," she added. She spies the doors on the back of the ambulance close, and it starting up. "Grab your get well cards for Tommy and hurry, that ambulance is about to leave," added Kimmi. Phil, Lil and Chuckie all grab up their get well cards and pile into the wagon, Chuckie grabbing on to the back of it. "We're off to the hopcicle," said Kimmi as they drive out of Chuckie's yard, into the street, and scurry to catch up with the ambulance that's already headed back towards the hospital.

At that moment, Betty, Chaz and Kira walk into the yard. "Where did the kids go?" Asked Betty. "Chaz sees them down the street in the Reptar wagon behind the ambulance. ""The kids are getting away!" Chaz shouted. "It looks like they're off to the hospital to see Tommy," he added. Kira opens the door of the car. "We've got to go get the kids," added Kira. They drive off in the direction of the wagon and the ambulance.

This concludes chapter 4. So, what do you all think? Will the babies make it to the hospital? Will Tommy get released? Or will their parents stop them before they can get too far. Find out, as their big adventure continues, in chapter 5.


	5. Chapter 5

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

Recap of Chapter 4: In the beginning of the chapter, the babies are at Phil and Lil's house, unaware of the real whereabouts of Tommy. But when they find Dil leaves and Tommy isn't present when Tommy's daddy appears, they venture over nextdoor to Tommy's, to find nothing but his plastic screwdriver, which is snatched up by Spike, and accidentally, ends up down in the basement. But before the babies even have a chance to rescue it, they're caught by Phil and Lil's mom, who takes them back to her house for a while, until they go to Susie's later on that very same day. At Susie's, the babies all make get well cards for Tommy, with the inticipation that they'd be going to see him the next day. Angelica fails miserably to destroy their get well cards, leaving a trail of destruction in the Carmichael's living room. Meanwhile, while Tommy is breathing on his own, he still has a high fever, so Lucy, AKA Dr. Carmichael suggests that everybody wait an extra day to go visit Tommy. But whehn the babies spy the Reptar wagon in Chuckie's yard the following day, they decide to venture off to the hospital themselves. What will happen next? Let's find out, in chapter 5!

Chapter 5

The babies continue to venture around corners in the Reptar wagon, keeping up with the ambulance. "Are we there yet?" Asked Chuckie, who appears to be slipping off the back of the wagon. "Hold on Chuckie, we're almost there!" Exclaimed Kimmi. The ambulance pulls into the hospital, with the Reptar wagon, not too far behind. When the ambulance stops, Chuckie lets go of the back of the wagon, and they stop. They spy the paramedics carrying the man on a stretcher through a set of doors. "Let's follow them," said Kimmi, as they get out of the Reptar wagon, and walk into the building. Their parents have caught up to them as well. They park the car in the nearest parking lot to the ambulance drive in place, and spy the Reptar wagon with no kids in it. "Ok the pups are definitely inside the hospital somewhere," said Betty. "Chaz, Kira, follow me, we're off to find them," she continued as the 3 of them walk into the nearest entrance.

The babies enter into a huge hallway, looking around, Chuckie says, "This place is so big, we'll never find Tommy." "Sure we will," said Kimmi. Meanwhile, down in the ICU unit, Dr. Carmichael, Didi, and a couple of nurses are gathered around Tommy's bed. "Well, he made it through the night breathing on his own," said a nurse with blond hair. Dr. Carmichael starts unhooking Tommy from all of the equipment, and they wheel his bed out of the room. Tommy is awake at this point, looking around as his bed rolls through the hallways of the hospital. The bed passes by where the other rugrats are standing. "I see Tommy you guys," shouted Chuckie. "Come on!" Exclaimed Kimmi, as they run after the bed.

Tommy is being rolled down the hall backwards, with the babies chasing the foot of the bed. As he looks around, he spots them getting closer. "Chuckie? Phil? Lil? Kimmi?" He asks in a croky voice. "I'm coming Tommy," shouted Chuckie as they near the bed, grab a hold of the footboard, and topple over on to the bed. Catching his breath, Chuckie adds, "Chasing after beds makes me tired." "Look, I think we're almost there!" Shouted Lil, as she points to a doorway that the bed goes through. They stop in a hospital room, where Stu, Didi, Dil, Susie, Chaz, Kira and Betty are all waiting for them.

Betty, Chaz and Kira scoop up their kids from the bed. "Oh, we're so glad you're safe," they all cried out, giving their kids a hug. After putting them down, Susie approaches the babies. "How did you guys get here?" Susie asked. They take turns telling of their adventure in the Reptar wagon to get to the hospital. "I have something for you Tommy," said Susie, as she picked up both, her get well card and Dil's. "This one's from me," said Susie, as she hands Tommy the get well card with Happy Bear on it. "Wow, thanks!" exclaimed Tommy, his voice still crokey. "What's wrong with your voice?" Asked Phil. "The doctors broked it," croked Tommy. "They stuck a tube in my mouth and it broked my voice." "I had that happen to me after my tonsels came out," said Susie. "But it will get better in a few days." "And wow, I like this rainbow," croked Tommy with a smile. "I helped Dil make that get well card for you," said Susie. Tommy sees Dil over in his stroller. "Ah, thanks Dilly," said Tommy.

"We have get well cards for you too," said Chuckie. Looking around, he notices everybody's get well cards are gone. "Oh no, in our attempt to get here, we losted the cards somewhere." "No you didn't," said Kimmi, as she pulled out everybody's get well cards from her diaper, and unfolded them. "You guys dropped them when we arrived at the hopcicle, so I grabbed them before we went inside," she added. She hands Chuckie, Phil and Lil their cards. "I drew you some dandelions Tommy, you like em?" He asked as he hands Tommy the card and he looks at it. Tommy shakes his head with a smile. "And this one's from me," Said Phil as he hands Tommy the picture of Reptar. "Reptar," Tommy whispers with a smile. "And I made you some mud pies!" Exclaims Lil as she hands Tommy her picture. Tommy grabs the picture and puts it down. "And here's my card," said Kimmi, as she hands it to Tommy. He looks at it, staring at the picture of Okey Dokey Jones dressed in a pirate, and her picture of the beach, he frouns. "What's wrong Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. Tommy answers in a sad, crokey voice, "The beach is where I got sick." "What do you mean?" Asked Phil. "Well, I met this kid Chongo, who was sick. I thought he just had a cold, but after not being able to eat, or breethe, and coming to the hopcicle, well, it's definitely the Gray Plague, and the scariest, must uncomfortablest place," Tommy added. "You? The bravest baby in the world, scared?" Asked Kimmi. "Um, yeah," replied Tommy with a froun. Susie comes back over to the bed. "So, do you like your get well cards?" Asked Susie. "Yeah, you guys are the bestest friends a baby ever had, but I still don't feel good, and just, wanna go home," Tommy continued. "Then let's go!" Exclaimed Chuckie, as he grabbed Tommy's hand, and the babies, got out of the bed. "But how are we going to get home?" Asked Phil. "Does anybody remember the way back to where we left the Reptar wagon?" Asked Lil. "Reptar wagon?" Asked Tommy. "Uh, yeah, you left it in my yard," answered Chuckie. "Susie, grab Dil, we're off to take Tommy home," said Chuckie. "And I remember the way," added Kimmi, as she headed towards the door of the hospital room. "Follow me!"

The babies head out into the hall, with Susie pushing Dil in his stroller bringing up the rear, and Tommy leaning on Chuckie. "Are you ok Tommy?" Chuckie asked. "Yeah, I'm just, very weak, and I feel achy all over, unable to move as fast as usual," he replied. "Well then, you lean on me, I'll make sure you make it," added Chuckie. As the babies head down the hall, a nurse stops them. "We're sorry kids, but this child hasn't been released yet," as she scoops up Tommy and carries him back to the hospital room. At that moment, Taffy shows up wearing a candy cane striped outfit and carrying her guitar in one hand, and a tray of food in the other. "What a surprise to run into you here minis," she said with a smile. "Look you guys, Taffy is here, I bet she'll take real good care of Tommy," said Kimmi. "Yeah, but… I wanted Tommy to come home," said Chuckie with a froun, nearly ready to cry.

The babies turn and follow Taffy back to the room. When they get there, they find a corner, and watch from a distance. Tommy is back in the room in his bed. Taffy approaches him carrying the tray of food. "I'm your candy striper partner, and I'm going to see that you get better," she said with a smile, setting the tray of food down on Tommy's bed. "But in order for you to go home, you need to eat all of this food, and take your medicine," Taffy added. The babies crawl out of their corner and hop up on to the bed. They spy the tray of food, with several bowls of food, with a spoon in each. "Look Tommy," said Chuckie. "All sorts of yummy food," he added. Tommy looks at Chuckie, then looks down at the bowls of soup and green jell-o. "Uh, Chuckie, I'm not very hungry," he added. "But you have to eat this Tommy, or we'll never go home," Chuckie added. "Come on Tommy, you're my bestest friend, and I know you can do this." "Ok," Tommy sighed. "I suppose I can try."

The babies each grab a spoon and start trying to feed Tommy, making a mess in the process. There's one spoon sticking up in a cup of pudding. "Don't worry guys I can feed myself," as Tommy reaches for the pudding and eats it. Later, when the bowls are empty, and a trail of food runs from Tommy's chin, to the covers, and on to the tray, all that's left is a bottle of apple juice. Tommy picks up the bottle and starts drinking it, when everyone's parents show up, and a nurse with dark hair brings up the rear, pulling the Reptar wagon behind her. "I believe this belongs to you," said the nurse pointing to the wagon. "Thank you," said Stu, as he gets the kids cleaned up, off of Tommy's bed, and into the wagon. The babies all start to cry. "Don't worry kids," said the nurse. "Tommy will be able to come home in a few days," she added.

Stu pushes the wagon out of the room, with Taffy, Betty and Kira following behind. Chaz approaches Didi, Lucy and Susie, carrying 2 party invitations and 2 tickets. "We'd like to invite Tommy and Dil to Chuckie's third Birthday party, and to go see Reptar Live with us next week," says Chaz, as he hands the items to Didi. "That's very thoughtful of you," answered Didi. "I hope Tommy can go too," she continued. "Mommy, do you think Tommy will be able to go?" Asked Susie. "That all depends," answered Dr. Carmichael. "This is a very bad illness, and what's most important right now, is that Tommy gets well," she continued.

Susie looks over at Tommy. He's frowning, and about ready to cry. "Awe, what's the matter Tommy?" Asked Susie as she neared the bed. "I don't like this, I can't do any of the things I like to do, I don't feel good, and my voice sounds awful," he added. "You're going to be ok Tommy, just give it some time," Susie added. "You know what Susie, you're right," said Tommy as a smile comes to his face. "I don't care what Angelica said before I came to the hopcicle, or what the Gray Plague told me in my dream, I'm gonna get better, and go home." "Would you like me to tell Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Kimmi and Dil that you'll be home soon?" Susie asked. "Please Susie, you and your mommy are my only hope right now," pleaded Tommy. "Sure thing, I'll be happy to," said Susie with a smile, as she patted Tommy's shoulder, and walked away.

Later on, the dark haired nurse returns, takes Tommy's blood pressure, and gives him some purple liquid medicine. "This medicine might not taste very good, but it will make you all better," said the nurse as she gives him the medicine. Tommy falls asleep as soon as the nurse leaves, and has another dream. Once again, the mean looking gray plague cloud is before him. "You're ruining my plan to destroy you," said the mean cloud. "Well, maybe it's cuz I don't want to go away," answered Tommy in a harsh tone. "Ha Ha," said the cloud. "Just wait and see, I'll destroy you when you least expect it," she added. "Oh yeah, and… I… Well I'll do the same thing to you," added Tommy. "You'll never make it silly old plague," he added, as he threw a treebranch in her direction. "Oh, you think so eh?" Laughed the cloud. "Yeah!" Added Tommy. "And my friends gave me get well cards, and are doing everything in their power to help me," Tommy added. "You'll never get away with this." "Hate to break it to you," said the cloud as she got closer to Tommy. "But those cards are just pieces of paper! They won't do anything!" "Maybe you're right," answered Tommy. "But I've got to try to get better. There's no way I'm gonna miss my bestest friends Birthday, or Reptar."

Suddenly, a bottle of that purple liquid medicine appears. "Recognize this young man?" Asked the gray plague cloud. "Sure I do," answered Tommy. "It's that nasty medicine I was given before bed." "Well, you'll still be taking this medicine after you go home," said the cloud. "And the majority of my victoms, never finish it because they cannot stand the horrible side effects, that are soon to come your way," she continued with an evil smile. "Side effects?" Asked Tommy. "And what are those?" The cloud answered him with an evil laugh, as she pushes him over on to the ground. "That's for me to know, and you, to find out. Good luck, you're gonna need it."

At this point, Tommy wakes up to a nurse taking his blood pressure again. "There we go, all done," said the nurse as she takes the blood pressure cup off of Tommy's arm. As she leaves the room, Tommy says to himself, "How is a baby suppose to get well and out of this hopcicle if we can't get any sleep?" He lies back on the pillows, but try as he might, he can't get to sleep.

This ends chapter 5. What will happen in chapter 6? Will Tommy get released from the hospital? What are the terrible side effects of the medicine? Will he get to go to Chuckie's Birthday and Reptar Live? Find out next time, as our story of the Gray Plague, continues.


	6. Chapter 6

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE: Starting in chapter 6, and going onwards till the end of the story, 2 new characters appear regularly. Myself, known in the story as Aunty Celeste, and my nephew Zachary. Everything is true about us except we don't live where the Rugrats live in reality, nor does Zack live alone with me, making me his care provider, and, I don't have a driverless car. Also, in reality, Zack isn't crawling yet at the time this story was written, but in the story, he is.

Recap of Chapter 5: The babies and their parents, all make it to the hospital. Tommy gets out of ICU and into a regular room. The babies catch up with him while he's being transported from one place to the other, and the entire chapter focuses around their first visit to the hospital to see Tommy. As a result of this Gray Plague though, their brave, happy friend, is scared, unhappy, and doesn't feel good, and while the get well cards cheer him up somewhat, he just wants to go home. So the babies all try to make a break for it, when they're stopped by a nurse, and learn sadly, that Tommy isn't ready to be released yet, he has to eat, and he gets some time during dinner with Taffy, who's volunteering as a candy cane striper. Tommy's food is served, and the babies help him eat his first meal in a few days, which, while he wasn't all that hungry, he was convinced by Chuckie to eat it anyway. Later, after the babies leave, and Susie stays behind to go home with her mom, she talks to Tommy, who's feeling pretty pestimistic at this point, to look on the bright side, and he starts to reveal his usual self, and decides that he'll do whatever it takes to get better, so he can go home. That night, after he's given his first dose of the liquid medicine, he has another dream with the gray plague cloud in it, giving him tips about his evil future that's to come when it comes to taking that medicine once he leaves the hospital. But Tommy's not giving up all that easily, though he's awakened for a blood pressure check, and starts to wonder, if he'll ever get any sleep again. So, will he sleep again and get to go home? Let's find out, as we journey on forward, to chapter 6!

Chapter 6

It's the day before Chuckie's third Birthday, and everybody is at the hospital, visiting Tommy. He looks a lot happier, and isn't nearly as pale in the face anymore. The babies are gathered around Tommy's bed. "I can't believe I'm gonna be 3-years-old tomorrow, I can't wait!" Exclaimed Chuckie. "I can't wait to see Reptar Live," added Phil. "Me too, said Lil. "I can't wait for both!" Shouted Kimmi excitedly. "What are you looking forward to Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. Tommy lays back in his bed, with a smile, and his eyes, half open. He yawns and says, "I can't wait to go home from this hopcicle and take a nappy in my own bed. Seems around here, when you try to go to sleep, you're awakened for something, either to eat, or wear this big bracelet thing on your arm that gets really tight. It's only on you for a minute, but it's not very comfortable." "Wow Tommy, I don't think I'd like that either," said Chuckie. "I'm glad I don't have to stay in the hopcicle," he continued.

A nurse with red hair walks into the room with some food for Tommy, and Taffy shows up in her candy cane uniform and her guitar. The food is set down before Tommy, and he eats the macaroni and cheese on his own, and rather quickly, while Taffy entertains everyone with music. "Wow, you must be feeling better Tommy," said Kimmi with a smile. "Yeah, I'm actually hungry, and don't ache or cough as much anymore," he said with a smile. "And your voice sounds back to normen too," added Chuckie. Tommy shakes his head and smiles.

The grown ups across the room are talking. "I think Tommy can be released tomorrow morning," said the red headed nurse with a smile. "Do you think you guys will be able to make it to Chuckie's Birthday party tomorrow? It's at 3." Said Chaz to Didi. "I don't see why not," answered Didi. "But should anything change, I'll have Stu let you know," she added. Lucy walks in with Tommy's medicine. "I'm afraid visiting time is over," she said with a frown. Chaz starts getting the kids ready to go. "Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. "Yes Chuckie?" Replied Tommy. "You will make it to my Birthday tomorrow, won't ya?" "I wouldn't miss it for the world," replied Tommy with a big smile, sitting up in bed. "And even if I have to bust out of here, I'll be there for my bestest friends Birthday, I promise!" "Come on little fellow, it's time to go," says Chaz as he takes Chuckie's hand and leads him out of the room.

Later that night, Chuckie sits on the side of his bed, holding a picture of him and Tommy. As he studies the picture, he has flashbacks of times he enjoyed with Tommy. When he's done remembering, he curls up under the blankets on his bed, and snuggles up with WahWah. "Well WahWah, it will be nice to have Tommy back," said Chuckie with a smile. "I can't wait till tomorrow," as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Chuckie and Kimmi are eating cereal for breakfast. Chuckie finishes his bowl of Reptar cereal. "I'd like some more cereal please?" Asked Chuckie. "What was that?" Asked Chaz. "I said, I'd like some more cereal please?" Repeated Chuckie. "My goodness, Chuckie, you just asked your first complete question, on your third Birthday!" Exclaimed Chaz excitedly. It was true, on his third Birthday, Chuckie was able to magically speak to grown ups, but just like Angelica and Susie, he could still speak to the babies too. Suddenly, the telephone rings, and Chaz goes to answer it. It's Didi, letting him know that Tommy is being released from the hospital, and that they'll be at the Birthday party later on that day. Chaz mentions that he'd be taking Chuckie and Kimmi to the park that morning while Kira got things ready for the party, if they wanted to meet them there. They agree, and Chaz hangs up the phone. "Guess what kids?" Says Chaz. "Tommy's coming home today, and he'll see you in a little while." Chuckie and Kimmi say, "Yay!" excitedly simultaneously, and hop up from the table to leave for the park.

At the hospital, Didi is getting Tommy ready to leave. Lucy walks in with the medicine they're going to send Tommy home with. A large bottle of the purple liquid. She explains to Didi that he needs to take this medicine for the next 7 days, 3 times a day with food, and warned her that it was extremely important that he didn't miss a single dose, as the plague could still be dormant inside him, and could relaps with a greater effect than the last time. Side effects of the medicine included fatigue and irritability, and these 2 side effects were the most common in young children. Didi thanked Lucy with a smile, as she carried Tommy out of the hospital.

Chaz decides to stay behind and get things ready for Chuckie's party, while Kira takes Kimmi and Chuckie to the park. Chuckie runs into Phil and Lil in the sandbox. "Guess what guys," says Chuckie excitedly. "What?" Asked Phil and Lil excitedly. "Tommy will be coming to my Birthday party later on today after all!" "Are you sure about this Chuckie?" Asked Phil. "Of course I am Phil," said Chuckie in a somewhat irritated tone. "I heard it from my daddy, so it's gotta be true." "Like when Tommy said he was sure he wouldn't get the Gray Plague, and got sick anyway?" Added Lil. Chuckie sighed. "Maybe you guys are right. Maybe we should just wait, and see what happens."

"So, wanna come play with us in the mud?" Asked Phil. "No," answered Chuckie. "I don't want to play in some icky old mud." He continued. "I'll play with ya," said Kimmi. "I'm gonna take a walk." Said Chuckie with a sigh, as he walked towards the playground, picking dandelions on the way, and Phil, Lil and Kimmi, ran off to play in the mud. While walking along, a voice cried out, "Hi!" "Who said that?" Asked Chuckie. He turned to see a baby wearing a dark blue 1zee, with no hair, who was bigger than Dil, but slightly smaller than Tommy. "I'm Zachary! Zachary Michael Wheelock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one let's have some fun, Zachary Michael Wheelock." Chuckie replies with a sigh, "I'm Chuckie Candle Finster, nothing fancy, just, plain old Chuckie," he added with a frown. "Why so glum chum?" Asked Zachary. Chuckie replied, "Well, I miss my bestest friend Tommy. He's been sick and hasn't been able to play with me." "Awe, that's too bad, but you know what? I'll play with ya. Wanna play? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Chuckie nods his head. "I was gonna go swing on the swings! I love to swing!" Said Zachary with a huge smile. "Well, we can do that then," smiled Chuckie. "Let's go." He added.

As they headed towards the swings, they passed by Zack's aunt. "That's my aunty Celeste," said Zachary. "She takes care of me." Pointing to a tall lady with dark brown long curly hair and carrying a white cane. "What's the stick for?" Asked Chuckie. "Oh, my aunty can't see, so she uses that stick to get around," Zachary answered. They finally reach the swings. While Chuckie pushes Zack, he asks, "How old are you anyway?" Chuckie replied, "Today I turn 3-years-old." "Well, Happy Birthday then!" Replied Zachary. "I'm 8 months old," he said as he smiled, showing off his one small tooth coming in on the bottom row.

Meanwhile, Didi, Tommy and Dil show up at the park. Tommy and Dil are playing on the grass, when Phil, Lil and Kimmi, all show up, covered in mud. "Welcome home Tommy," they all said, as they threw mud in his face. Tommy laughs and they all keep throwing mud at one another. Not even noticing Tommy has arrived, Chuckie and Zack continue to play together. They dounce on the trampileen, slide down the slide, and are discovered building a sand castle in the sandbox when Tommy, Phil, Lil and Kimmi finally discover them.

"Hi Tommy," Chuckie says as they approach the sandbox. "Hey Chuckie," says Tommy back with a smile. Chuckie introduces Zack to the rest of the gang. "Let's pretend the sandbox is the beach, and we're pirates, digging for treasure," said Zack. "Hey, Tommy loves playing pirates," said Kimmi. "Yeah," Tommy said as he let out a big yawn, "But not today, I'm starting to feel kind of sleepy." As he sits down on the ground. "Um, Tommy just got out of the hopcicle," Chuckie whispered in Zack's ear. "Wanna come pick dandelions with me?" Asked Tommy. "Chuckie and I already did that," replied Zack. "If you don't wanna play pirates, then we'll see you later," Zack continued, in a snappy tone. Chuckie and Zack continue to play together, as Tommy crawls off back towards where everyone else is, looking very sad. "What's the matter?" Asked Kimmi as Tommy approaches. "It's as if Chuckie has a new bestest friend," replied Tommy. He watches Chuckie and Zack play from a distance. Zack and Chuckie giggle, as they play in the sand, and elsewhere in the park. "I'm glad we're alone Chuckie." Said Zack. "No offense, but Phil and Lil seem a bit too gross and disgusting for my taste, Tommy seems depressed and boring, and Kimmi, well, maybe I'll give her a chance, since she is your sister," Zack continued. "Um, don't talk that way about Tommy," replied Chuckie. "He's usually lots of fun, he just, probably still tired out from being in the hopcicle is all," he continued with a sigh. "Well can we be friends?" Asked Zack. "As long as you don't talk about Tommy like that again," replied Chuckie. "Ok then, it's a deal," Zack said with a smile, as he shook Chuckie's hand.

Chuckie hears his mom calling him for lunch in the distance. "We'd better go get lunch, come on Zack," said Chuckie as the 2 of them headed back towards the picnic blanket. "So, did you just move here Celeste?" Asked Kira. "Yes, we moved here from Massachusetts. I'm gonna be working for Radio Disney and Zack is staying with me right now, while his parents finish up their last calendar year of work back home, and see to heading over here." "Well," said Kira, "Chuckie and Zack seem to be having a good time with one another. Would you be interested in coming to Chuckie's Birthday party this afternoon?" "Yeah can they?" Asked Chuckie. "We'd love to!" Said Aunty Celeste with a smile.

Everyone sits down and enjoys their lunches. Didi pulls out Tommy's medicine. "Come on sweetie, time for your medicine." She says. "You're still taking that medicine?" Asked Chuckie. Tommy sighed and shook his head with a frown. As lunch was ending, Tommy and Dil let out a huge yawn. "Since we have a couple of hours before the party," said Didi, "Let's take you 2 home and put you down for a nap." But about 2 hours later, Didi goes into the boys room to wake them up. Dil wakes up in his crib right away, laughing, but Tommy on the other hand, is sound asleep in his bed. Try as she might, Didi just, can't get Tommy to wake up, and sends Stu with Dil to the party, agreeing that they'll get there as soon as Tommy wakes up.

At Chuckie's house, everyone has fun at the party. They play pin the tail on Reptar, and Musical Chairs. When Chuckie can't find a chair to sit in, he starts to cry. "Don't cry bucko," said Chaz, as he leads Chuckie over to Phil, Lil, Kimmi and Dil. "What's wrong Chuckie?" Asked Kimmi. "There are no more chairs," replied Chuckie. "Welcome to the club," said Phil. "I don't like musical chairs," added Lil. Dil throws a raddle at Chuckie's head. "Dil!" Exclaims Chuckie. "Where's Tommy anyway?" He asked. "We haven't seen him," said Kimmi. Chuckie turns away with a frown. "But… He promised he'd be here." "Maybe he's playing hide and go peak," said Kimmi. Meanwhile, Zack comes over, carrying a Reptar balloon. "I won this in Musical Chairs," he said. He sees Chuckie's frown. "What's wrong?" Zack asked. "Tommy didn't make it," Kimmi replied. "And we're off to look for him," said Phil. "We think he may be hiding," added Lil. "Don't bother," replied Zack. "Anyone who breaks a promise to show up at your Birthday party is not worth being your friend," he continued. "Tell you what, I'll be your best friend," added Zack. "You will? You mean it?" Asked Chuckie with a smile. "Sure, after all, I've never had a best friend before, and I like you," said Zack with a smile. "Well, I guess Tommy wouldn't mind," replied Chuckie.

Well, this concludes chapter 6. So, what happens next? Does Tommy show up for any of Chuckie's Birthday party? And how does Tommy take it, when he finds out the news of Chuckie's new best pal. The answers to these questions and more, shall be revealed, in chapter 7.


	7. Chapter 7

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE: Starting in chapter 6, and going onwards till the end of the story, 2 new characters appear regularly. Myself, known in the story as Aunty Celeste, and my nephew Zachary. Everything is true about us except we don't live where the Rugrats live in reality, nor does Zack live alone with me, making me his care provider, and, I don't have a driverless car. Also, in reality, Zack isn't crawling yet at the time this story was written, but in the story, he is.

Recap of Chapter 6: The chapter starts out on the day before Chuckie's third Birthday. Everyone's excited, and, there's a pretty good chance, that Tommy will be going home from the hospital the following day. Tommy is so sure of himself, that he even makes a promise to be at his Birthday party. The following day, not only does Chuckie start being able to talk in full sentences to the grown ups, but he makes a new friend out at the park, Zachary, a young baby of 8 months old, who just moved to town with his aunt. Zack and Chuckie have the best of times, but Zack isn't so sure about Chuckie's other friends, and, as a result of lack of sleep in the hospital, Tommy grows too tired to play. After lunch, Tommy and Dil head home for a nap, which ends for Dil in time for Chuckie's party, but not Tommy. At the party, Chuckie soon discovers that Tommy never showed up, and is pretty upset that his best friend in the whole wide world, broke his promise. So Zack convinces Chuckie that maybe it's time to move on, and make a new best friend, since Tommy stood him up, and Chuckie agrees, in the heat of the moment, to give this a try. But could this mean war for Tommy and Chuckie down the road? Let's see what happens, in chapter 7!

Chapter 7

Chuckie's Birthday party continues, and Chuckie and Zack continue to have a good time, as they eat Reptar Birthday cake, and open presents. Meanwhile, Phil and Lil have gone to play in the mud, and after the party, they track it into the Finster's house. "How did mud get into my house!" Exclaimed Kira. "Must have been the pups, they love to play in the mud," answered Betty. "You mean, you're ok with mud getting tracked into the house? Kimmi likes to play in the mud too, but I make sure she's cleaned up outside," said Kira. "We just, clean it up before it stains," added Betty. "Well, I don't want mud stains in my house," argued Kira. "Then maybe we just won't come to your nice, clean house anymore," Betty snapped back, as she grabbed up her muddy twins along with Phil, Lil, and Tommy's party bags, and stomped out the front door. "We'd better be going too," said Stu as he grabbed up Dil. "Didi and Tommy never showed up, so I'd better get home and see what's up." "Thanks for coming," said Chaz, as Stu and Dil headed out the door.

At Tommy's house, Stu and Dil arrive home, and as the door closes downstairs, Tommy wakes up in his bed upstairs. He yawns, stretches, and slowly gets out of bed, rubbing his eyes. As he heads downstairs, Didi spots him. "Well hello sleepy head," she said smiling as she gently patted his head. "And how was the party you two?" Asked Didi as she turned to Stu, still holding Dil. Just then, the doorbell rings, and Didi goes to answer the door. It's Betty with Phil and Lil. "Hey Didi, good to see ya. I saw you and Tommy didn't make it, so I brought Tommy's party bag." She said as she took the now clean twins inside, and she put them into the playpen. Didi got Tommy and put him in, and Stu dropped off Dil.

"Hey guys," said Tommy with a frown. "Hey Tommy," said phil and lil simultaneously. "Sorry you missed Chuckie's party," said Lil. "We brought you a party bag," she added, as she handed the bag to Tommy. "Sorry I didn't make it guys," said Tommy. "I was really sleepy, and I guess, being in the hopcicle was just, too much." "Don't tell us, tell Chuckie," said Phil. "It was Chuckie you broke a promise to," added Lil. Tommy frowned, as tears start to come to his eyes. "And while we're on the subject, that Zack kid? He convinced Chuckie to be his best friend, and Chuckie agreed to it," said Phil. "And while you were in the hopcicle, Chuckie lost your screwdriver down in your basement," added Lil. "And I don't think we'll be playing at Chuckie and Kimmi's anymore," added Phil. "On account that our mommy and their mommy had a fight today," said Lil. As they're telling Tommy all of this, his face continuously gets redder and redder, until he just, breaks down crying. Betty and Didi rush into the room. "Looks like it's five o'clock fussy time," said Betty. "I think you're right," answered Didi, as she picked up Tommy, who continues to cry in her arms, as she tries to comfort him.

"The doctor did say that crankiness and tiredness were side effects of the medicine Tommy has to take right now, and he slept all afternoon, and is now fussy," said Didi. "Well, we'd better be going," said Betty as she gathered up the twins. "We'll see you tomorrow night at Reptar Live," Betty added, as she headed towards the door. At this point, Tommy stops crying, resting his head on his mommy's shoulder, and closing his eyes.

Later that night, Tommy has a dream, where he recalls all of the great moments from the past he's had with Chuckie, ending in Zack coming along, and breaking them up. "Tommy's not good enough for you," says Zack as he pushes Tommy's face into the sandbox. Tommy then awakens, opening one eye. "I've gotta have a talk with Chuckie," he mumbled, as he falls back to sleep.

That evening, everyone has arrived at Reptar Live, and they're sitting in their chairs in the theater, waiting for the show to start. Tommy is sitting between Kimmi and Chuckie, with Dil on the other side of Kimmi, and Phil and Lil on the other side of Chuckie. Tommy yawns. "Uh oh, it's happening," Tommy sighed. "What's happening again?" Asked Kimmi. "It happens every time I take this medicin I'm on. I get really sleepy, and can't stay awake, and I'm cranky too," Tommy added. "Yeah, Tommy cried a ton when me and Lil saw him yesterday night," replied Phil. "Why are you taking the medicine anyway?" Asked Kimmi. "I think it has something to do with making sure I'm over that stupid Gray Plague. But you know what? Once I've had my bazillion nappies I seem to be having a day right now after my meals, when I've taken the medicine, I'm either cranky, or I feel fine. I just hope I manage to stay awake for Reptar," Tommy said in between yawns. "Don't worry Tommy, I'm sure you'll stay awake for Reptar Live," said Chuckie. Tommy turns to Chuckie. "Um, Chuckie, can I ask you something?" "Sure Tommy, what's up?" But before Tommy could answer Chuckie back, Zack shows up.

"Hey Zachary, you made it!" Said Chuckie with a smile. "Yep, thank you for inviting me and my aunty to see Reptar Live, I hear it's gonna be the story of Reptar and the wolves! My grandpa where I use to live played the music from that for me, and, I loved it! But I've never seen the whole live performance." Zack said excitedly. "Come sit down next to me Zack," said Chuckie, as he patted a chair between him and Phil and Lil. "No offense Chuckie, but can we do some seat rearrangements?" "Oh yeah, I forgot," said Chuckie. Kimmi and Tommy switch places, putting Tommy next to Dil, and Zack in between Kimmi and Chuckie. Tommy is not pleased, but before anyone can argue, the lights dim in the theater, and the curtain on stage opens.

A man in a duck costume walks out on stage. "Hello boys and girls, it's almost time for our Reptar show tonight, but while we're waiting, let's sing a song. Everyone, come on, sing along with me now… Quack, quack, quack. Oh, and while you wait, Bob the cow will be around with sippy cups, with the juice you ordered when you bought your tickets!" A guy in a cow costume walks up and down the rows of seats, handing out sippy cups to the young kids. When they get to the Rugrats row, he mixes up Tommy and Zack's juices. "Yum! Apple juice!" Said Zack with a smile as he took a sip. "Yuck, grape juice, I don't like this," said Tommy. "I think they mixed up our juices Tommy, and sorry, but it's not polite to drink after other babies, so enjoy your grape juice." Said Zack Furious, Tommy takes the sippy top off of his juice, and throws the cup at Zack, spilling juice all over Zack and on Chuckie, who's next to him. "What did you do that for?" Asked Chuckie in a furious tone. But before Tommy could answer, Reptar appears on stage, and the show begins.

As the show continues, Tommy's eyes grow heavier and heavier. Try as he might, he eventually, just, can't keep them open anymore, and ends up falling asleep. He has a dream where he's in his house, and there's a huge knock at the door. He answers it, to find Reptar standing there. "Roar," says Reptar, as he takes a huge breath, and breethes fire right in Tommy's face. "What are you doing Reptar? You're suppose to be our hero," shouted Tommy. "And what are you? Baby Dil? If you don't wish to lose your friends, you'd better either stop taking that medicine, or be doomed to a life of loneliness," roared Reptar. "The choice is yours," said a distant chorus of voices, as Tommy starts to float around in the air. Passing through, the gray plague appears, laughing evily.

Tommy then awakens from the dream, only to find himself in his stroller, in his living room, looking at Dil who was across the way in the playpin, giggling and chewing on the colorful rings that you put on to the poll. "I missed Reptar?" Tommy shouted angrily, bursting into tears, as he got out of his stroller. "That's it," he said in an angry tone of voice. "I'm tired of being sleepy, and cranky, and not feeling like myself. And I'm tired of Chuckie playing with Zack, who doesn't care for me. Reptar was right, I've gotta stop taking my medicine, and, that's exactly, what I'm going to do!"

Back at the theater, the Reptar show has concluded. Chuckie asks, "So, how did you guys like it?" Everybody shouted, "Reptar rules!" "What did you think Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. When he didn't get an answer back, he turned, only to notice Dil and Tommy were gone. He turned to his daddy who was sitting behind him. "Where did Tommy and Dil go?" "They left early Chuckie," replied his daddy. "They didn't seem to be feeling well come intermission, so Tommy's mommy decided they'd better go home early." Chuckie turned to Zack. "Well Zack, it's official, you're my bestest friend now. Tommy and Dil don't like me no more." Zack gives Chuckie a hug, as tears stream down Chuckie's face. "Like they say Chuckie, I hear the Gray Plague, literally destroys a person," said Zack, as everybody heads out of the theater for home.

Is it true? Does the Gray Plague, really destroy a person? Will Tommy have success with retaliating the medicine? Or will mommy stop him? And if he does retaliate, will the plague take on full force, completely destroying him? What about his and Chuckie's friendship? What will happen the next time they have a playdate? Will Tommy ever rescue his screwdriver from the basement? Find out the answers to these questions, and much more, in chapter 8.


	8. Chapter 8

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE: Starting in chapter 6, and going onwards till the end of the story, 2 new characters appear regularly. Myself, known in the story as Aunty Celeste, and my nephew Zachary. Everything is true about us except we don't live where the Rugrats live in reality, nor does Zack live alone with me, making me his care provider, and, I don't have a driverless car. Also, in reality, Zack isn't crawling yet at the time this story was written, but in the story, he is.

Recap of Chapter 7: The Birthday party concludes, and Tommy never shows up. As the party is concluding, Kira and Betty have a fight about tracking mud into the house, causing them to stop speaking to one another. The twins then head over to Tommy's, and find him there, after he's awakened from a long afternoon nap, only to throw a bunch of confessions on him, and when Tommy confesses about why he wasn't at the party, the twins grow mad at him for breaking his promise to Chuckie, and tell him he'd better go tell Chuckie what he did. This upsets Tommy, leaving him in nonstop tears as a result of the crankiness side effect that comes along with that medicine he's taking. The next night, everyone attends Reptar Live, only to have Zack show up, completely taking Chuckie's attention away from the rest of the gang, Tommy falling asleep during the show, and leaving for home at intermission. He has a dream where Reptar tells him he'd better quit taking the medicine, or face a life full of misery. Of course, what Tommy doesn't realize, is that if he stops taking the medicine, he's only going to get sick again, but he's already determined that if he stops taking the medicine, he'll return to his normal old self. What will happen? And is the friendship of Chuckie and Tommy doomed forever? Let's see what happens, in chapter 8!

Chapter 8

It is the morning after Reptar Live. Tommy is at the kitchen table, finishing up his Reptar cerial. Didi comes into the room with Tommy's medicine. "It's time to take your medicine sweetie," said Didi, as she spooned it out into a small cup. Tommy won't open his mouth to take it. His mom encourages him to open his mouth, but Tommy won't budge. He's determined to not take that medicine. "This medicine will make you all better," Didi said, but Tommy still wouldn't budge. Finally, he gets up from the table, and starts running through the house, with Didi chasing after him. Stu sees what's going on, and gets involved. They catch him at the end of the downstairs hall by the downstairs bathroom, at which time Tommy has lost his breath, and is gasping for air. Didi marches up to him, and manages to get the medicine into his mouth. Not being able to stand the taste, Tommy spits it out. Didi sighs, "Oh come on sweetie, you've got to take this." But Tommy won't give up. He's determined he shouldn't take the medicine. But in the end, Stu tricks him into eating another bowl of Reptar cerial, and when he opened his mouth to take a bite of cerial, Stu stuck the medicine cup into his mouth. This time, Tommy swallowed it, and sighed.

Later on, come lunch time, Tommy hides in the hall closet, in hopes he won't be found, skipping the lunch dose, but unfortunately, Didi opens the door, and this time, she has mixed his medicine in with a bowl of Jell-O, so Tommy takes the medicine secretly, without even knowing it. While he eats his lunch, Phil and Lil come over, and have bowls of jell-o as well, only Tommy can tell something doesn't taste right with his jell-o, but Phil and Lil won't believe him. "It doesn't taste like it did in the hopcicle," said Tommy, as he finished a spoonful of the jell-o. "We never ate it there," said Lil. "Tastes fine to me," added Phil as he takes the last bite of his jell-o. Didi notices while Phil and Lil have finished their bowls of jell-o, Tommy has barely touched his, so she comes over and encourages him to eat. Tommy covers his mouth with his hands, but Didi manages to get him to move his hands, and starts spoon feeding it to him. Tommy squirms, but she won't let him go. Finally, he eats the last bite, and the babies, go into the playpen.

"Come on, help me out of this thing so I can go find my screwdriver," said Tommy. Phil and Lil crouch down, and Tommy climbs on top of them and over the side of the playpen. He heads to the basement door, only to find it closed. As he's returning to the playpen though, he notices himself, starting to feel sleepy. "Now I know why that jell-o didn't taste right," said Tommy as he neared the playpen. "Why?" Said phil and Lil simultaneously. "Mommy mixed my medicine in with it," grumbled Tommy. "Oh I'll never be the same again," he said, as tears started to come. At that moment, Chuckie and Kimmi show up to play, and Didi puts Tommy back into the playpen when they arrive.

"Hey Tommy," said Chuckie. "Hey Chuckie," replied Tommy with a frown. "What's wrong Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. Tommy then starts in on him about how he found out from Phil and Lil about how his screwdriver went missing. Chuckie tries to tell him that it was Spike that lost it, and Tommy, all cranky and worked up, doesn't believe Chuckie. Then, Chuckie starts in on Tommy about how he wasn't at his Birthday party, and Tommy replies loudly, "I was sleepy, I'd been in the hopcicle, does that mean anything to you?" They yell and argue back and force for several minutes, until Tommy picks up a ball and throws it. Chuckie picks up other toys in the playpen, as does Tommy, and they start throwing them back and force at one another, as they continue to argue about everything, from the broken promise, to the lost screwdriver, and even about Chuckie's new best friend, which really gets them both going. "Zachary is younger than me, and you're 3-years-old now Chuckie, grow up!" Argued Tommy. "Well, why don't you stop being so sleepy and cranky all the time, and be the Tommy I use to know," added Chuckie. "I'm trying to stop that medicine, but seems those grown ups are just, too smart for us," argued Tommy as he threw a Reptar doll across to Chuckie in the playpen. "I don't think you're trying, it's as if that Gray Plague came along, and turned you into someone else," yelled Chuckie as he threw pieces of a puzzle at Tommy.

They imagine they're in a wrestling ring, and they're the wrestlers, fighting one another. "I'm gonna get you, TommyTaker," yells Chuckie as he pushes Tommy down. Tommy gets up, "Oh really? ChuckieCon? I'd like to see you try," as he then pushes Chuckie down. Phil, Lil and Kimmi are doing their best, to stay out of the way, but it's not easy, as the toys are flying all over the place. Next thing they know, Tommy and Chuckie are grabbing on to one another's necks, and just, screaming at the top of their lungs. This sends Stu and Didi running. "It appears you 2 need some separation time," said Didi, as she took Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Kimmi out of the playpen, and sends them outside to the backyard. At this point, Tommy collapses on the floor of the playpen and falls asleep.

He has another dream, where the Gray Plague cloud is before him. "Well well well, look who's here?" Said the gray plague cloud. Tommy stares up at her. "You know, you're taking my friends away from me, and I don't like it!" The cloud gives him an evil grin. "I know, and your friends are out to destroy you," she added in an evil tone. "My friends don't like me no more cuz of this medicine I was taking, and I'm doing everything to stop taking this medicine, but it's harder than it looks," said Tommy. "Well," the cloud says as she sends a ball of fire in Tommy's direction, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tommy asked, "Why not," The cloud smile widens, as she gives Tommy an evil glare, and her eyes turn a firey red against that gray face. "Don't stop the medicine, cuz if you do, I'll destroy you." This phrase is repeated several times, as Tommy floats through a worm whole, and suddenly, waking up in his playpen, to find the other babies, staring down at him.

Outside in the backyard, the others are around the sandbox. "See if I ever, speak to Tommy again," said Chuckie. "Wow Chuckie, I didn't realize how strong you were," said Kimmi with amazement. "Yeah, well, if this Gray Plague thing had never happened, we'd all still be having fun right now," added Chuckie in a sad tone. "I was so worried about Tommy, that I didn't think a losted screwdriver would be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, we'd find it when he got home, but Tommy's either sleeping or just, too cranky to deal with, that he's well, no fun anymore. And while I like Zack, it does bother me that he doesn't like the rest of you guys, and I'm the only person he'll play with," Chuckie said with a sigh. "I'd be your best friend," said Kimmi, looking at Chuckie with a smile. "Thanks Kimmi, but you're already my bestest sister, I don't think I can have you be both, even though as of late, you've acted more like Tommy than Tommy has," replied Chuckie. "Hey, what if we got rid of Tommy's medicine all together?" Asked Phil. "What do you mean?" Asked Kimmi. "If we find the bottle, and dump the medicine out somewhere, like down the drain," added Phil. "It would disappear," added Lil in an excited voice. "And Tommy wouldn't have to ever, take that medicine again, turning him back into Tommy," added Chuckie happily. "Then let's head into the kitchen, and find it!" Exclaimed Kimmi, as she got up from the sandbox, and went towards the kitchen door.

Once inside, the babies start searching the kitchen for the medicine. Kimmi spots the big purple bottle on a high cabinet shelf. "That looks just like the stuff Tommy was taking the other day at the park," said Kimmi excitedly. "But it's really high up, luckily, I'm a good climber, but I'll need someone to help me up to the counter," added Kimmi. Chuckie, Phil and Lil all climb on top of each other, and Kimmi climbs on top of them, then on to the counter, and reaches up to the cabinet, where she gets down the medicine. "Now, I just need to open it," she said, as she started playing with the cap of the bottle. It took a little bit, but she finally, got it open, headed to the kitchen sink, and poors the bottle upsidedown, emptying the medicine down the drain.

As she is emptying the medicine bottle, Didi walks in. "Kimmi! No!" Didi shouted as she gets Kimmi off of the counter. But by the time she rescues Kimmi, there's nothing left in the medicine bottle. "That was not a very good thing to do," said Didi. "You could have been hurt!" She added. "And now, Tommy is all out of medicine," Didi sighed. "Now what will we do," she continued as she left the room.

"Yay!" Said Kimmi with a smile. "Now, I bet ya as soon as Tommy wakes up from his nap, he'll be the Tommy we use to know," she added. "Not yet," said Chuckie. "We still have one more thing to do," he added. "What's that?" Asked Lil. "I've got to find his screwdriver in the way downstairs place, and hope I get it to Tommy before he wakes up," added Chuckie. But before they could even make their journey down to the basement, Tommy starts to stir in the other room.

"Have a nice nap Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. Tommy shook his head with a frown. "Well, you can say goodbye to yucky old medicine," said Kimmi with a smile. "She made it disappear!" Added Phil. Tommy grows angry. "No!" He screams. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted to quit that medicine," said Lil. "So come on Tommy," said Chuckie encouragingly as he reaches for Tommy's hands to pull him out of the playpen, "Let's go find that screwdriver," "No!" Tommy yelled again, pulling away from Chuckie. "I never wanna play with you guys again!" He snapped. At that moment, the doorbell rings. Chuckie turns to the other babies. "Guys, I think we only made things worser," he said with a frown.

This concludes chapter 8. So, what will happen next? Will Tommy and Chuckie ever make up and be friends again? Will they ever rescue his screwdriver from the basement? Has the Gray Plague left forever now that Tommy's medicine has been destroyed, or is Tommy, in for an unpleasant surprise. We'll find out, in chapter 9.


	9. Chapter 9

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE: Starting in chapter 6, and going onwards till the end of the story, 2 new characters appear regularly. Myself, known in the story as Aunty Celeste, and my nephew Zachary. Everything is true about us except we don't live where the Rugrats live in reality, nor does Zack live alone with me, making me his care provider, and, I don't have a driverless car. Also, in reality, Zack isn't crawling yet at the time this story was written, but in the story, he is.

Recap of Chapter 8: Tommy is determined to stop taking his medicine. So he does everything he can the following day after Reptar Live to not get his first 2 doses of medicine, but his mommy and daddy win. For this reason, Tommy continues to suffer from the side effects, and his crankiness gets the best of him, when he and Chuckie finally have a chance to talk things out, ending up in war, as their toys are thrown all over the room. When Tommy and Chuckie are eventually, separated from one another by Tommy's parents, Kimmi and the twins feel it's time Tommy's medicine be destroyed, so they head into the kitchen and Kimmy pours Tommy's medicine down the drain in the kitchen sink. Meanwhile though, Tommy has fallen asleep, and has another dream, telling him he shouldn't quit the medicine, making him change his mind, but when he awakens, it's too late. The medicine has been destroyed, and Tommy's angrier than ever. Chuckie ends that day's playdate in tears, but will that all change the next day? And will the babies original thinking on making Tommy's medicine disappear end up coming true? And what about that missing screwdriver, will it ever be rescued from the basement? Let's go find out, in chapter 9.

Chapter 9

It's the following day, and Zack, Kimmi, and Chuckie end up at Tommy's house. They arrive there to find Tommy and Dil watching a Reptar video. "Hey Tommy," says Kimmi smiling. "Hey guys," says Tommy with a smile. "Um, hi Tommy," says Chuckie with a sigh. Tommy turns away from the TV towards Chuckie. "Hey I'm sorry about yesterday Chuckie," said Tommy as he gave Chuckie a hug. "Me too," replied Chuckie. As they're embracing, Zack points to the TV. "Hey, you guys are watching Reptar versus the mole people, it's my favorite!" "Um, I hope you don't mind, Zack came with us today," said Chuckie. "I don't mind," said Tommy with a smile. "And I'm happy to give you another chance," added Zack. "Come on guys, it's getting to the best part!" Exclaimed Kimmi as everybody sits back down to watch the rest of the movie. After the video is over, Chuckie asks, "So what are we gonna do now?" Tommy stands up with a smile, walking towards the open basement door, "Let's go rescue my screwdriver," he said with a smile, as the babies head towards the basement door, Angelica comes in the front door. "Hello babies," says Angelica as she holds up Cynthia and a bag. "So, you must be Angelica," said Zack pointing at her. "That's my name, don't ware it out," said Angelica. "Who are you anyway?" She asked. "I'm Zachary, and I'm off to help my new friends find a missing screwdriver downstairs in the basement," "You babies are going nowhere, I'm putting on a Cynthia fashion show and I need you babies to be the judges," she said. "I'll do it," said Kimmi. "Chuckie, you go with Tommy, I'll stay with Kimmi," said Zack, as Tommy and Chuckie head off to the basement.

Tommy and Chuckie head down the basement stairs. When they get to the bottom, Chuckie looks around, shaking nervously. "It's awfully cold and dark down here," he said with a tremble. "Hey, I'm feeling kind of cold too," said Tommy. "We must be in, the frozen north." They imagine they're in a snowy cold place at night. "So where could that screwdriver be?" Asked Chuckie. "Let's split up and look around," replied Tommy, as he pulled a flashlight from his diaper and turned it on. "Wait, I don't have a flashlight," said Chuckie. "Here you go," said Tommy with a smile, as he reaches up to a table at the bottom of the stairs, and pulls down a flashlight and hands it to Chuckie. The 2 of them split up, looking all over the basement for it. Suddenly, Chuckie spots the screwdriver, it has rolled under neath the hot water heater, but try as he might, he can't reach it. The water heater starts making loud noises, scaring Chuckie. "Tommy, help!" Yelled Chuckie. But he gets no answer from Tommy, so goes off looking for him.

When he finds Tommy, he's sitting down, holding his stomach, his face is a pail green. "Are you ok Tommy?" Asked Chuckie. "I don't feel good," answered Tommy. "I think that Gray Plague is back," he added. Upstairs, Kimmi and Zack start to grow bored of Angelica's fashion show. "Let's go find Tommy and Chuckie," said Kimmi. "They have been gone an awfully long time," added Zack as he crawls towards the living room door to the entry hall. "Hey, where do you dumb babies, think you're going?" Shouted Angelica. "We're off to go play with our friends downstairs," said Zack as he and Kimmi turned a corner. "See ya," Zack added, as they disappeared down the stairs. Angelica grumbled.

Kimmi and Zack get down there, to find Tommy and Chuckie, huddled together. "What's going on?" Asked Kimmi. "Tommy's not doing well," said Chuckie. He whispers to Kimmi in her ear, "We shouldn't have disappeared his medicine, I think his Gray Plague is back." "Did you guys find what you were looking for?" Asked Zack. "Yeah, but it's in a really scary place," as Chuckie pointed in the direction of the water heater. "Oh, it's under the water heater," said Zack. "Oh, that's what that is," said Chuckie. "Yeah," added Zack as he crawled towards the water heater. He tries reaching under it to get the screwdriver out, but try as he might, he can't get it. Then, he spots a broom in the corner of the room. "If someone helps me out, together, we can get this screwdriver out," said Zack, as he grabs the broom. "Go help Zack Chuckie," said Kimmi, "I'll stay here with Tommy." "But… I'm too scared," replied Chuckie. Tommy whispered as he was trying to catch his breath, "You can do it." Chuckie sighs, and heads over to the water heater. Zack is over on the side, with the broom on the floor, going under it. "Come on Chuckie," said Zack. "There's nothing to fear, but fear itself," Zack added. "Never heard that one," replied Chuckie. "Some wise guy said it," said Zack. "Now, I'm gonna push this broomstick under, and push the screwdriver out the other side. Be ready to catch it Chuckie," continued Zack. Chuckie sighed, "Ok," he said.

Zack pushes the broomstick towards the screwdriver, and it comes out the other side. "Grab it Chuckie," he yelled. As Chuckie grabs it up, they hear some coughing and choking across the room. "Help!" Yelled Kimmi. Chuckie and Zack run back to where Kimmi and Tommy are, to find Tommy has passed out, his face is blue, and he's having trouble breathing. "Stu! Didi! Help!" Yelled Chuckie. Stu and Didi are up in the kitchen. Stu is feeding Dil a bottle. "I'm coming Chuckie," Stu shouted, as he got up from the chair, and accidentally, dropped Dil on to the floor. "Dil!" Didi shreaked. Dil screams as he lands on the floor, blood shooting out the back of his head. "I'm coming," shouted Stu as he runs towards the basement door. "What's going on uncle Stu?" asked Angelica. "Not now Angelica," as Stu runs through the basement door, downstairs, to find the babies. "Oh no, Tommy!" Stu shouted. He snatches him up and runs back upstairs with him to Didi. "What happened Stu?" "Looks like Tommy is sick again," said Stu. "And Dil's hurt too," cried Didi. "And if it weren't for your stupid inventions, we wouldn't be in this mess with Tommy," shouted Didi. "And then, you injure our second son?" She continued. "I'm sorry Stu, but I'm rushing my babies to the hospital, and then, we're moving out. Me and the kids." She shouted. "Fine," argued Stu, "I've had enough of this dumb family anyway."

Angelica heard the whole fight going on in the kitchen from the living room. An ambulance shows up to rush Tommy and Dil to the hospital. By this point, Chuckie, Kimmi and Zack are back upstairs in the living room, Chuckie is carrying the screwdriver. "Give it to me," said Zack, as Chuckie hands Zack the screwdriver, and he puts it into his diaper for safe keeping.

Chuckie sees the ambulance drive off from the front living room window. "I hope Tommy and Dil are gonna be ok," said Chuckie. Angelica walks up to Chuckie. "Even if they make it out, which I highly doubt baldy will, this time, but even if they do, you won't see them anymore anyway Chuckie." Chuckie tries to hold back some tears. "And why not Angelica?" Angelica replies, "Didn't you hear the news? Uncle Stu and Aunt Didi are getting a divorce." "What's a divorce?" Asked Chuckie. "You babies are so dumb," answered Angelica. "A divorce is when 2 people don't love each other anymore, and leave. Yep, Tommy and Dil won't see their daddy anymore, and I'll never have to come play at this house with you dumb babies ever again," added Angelica with a smile.

Just then, her daddy Drew comes up to the door. Stu lets him in. "Hi bro," Stu says with a frown. "Boy, you look depressed," added Drew. "Yeah, Didi is at the emergency room with Tommy and Dil, and looks like she and I will be getting a divorce," added Stu with a sigh. "Well little brother, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You'll never make ends meet, you have no savings, and soon, you're about to have no wife and kids! If I were you, I'd give up being an inventor Mr. Pickles." He shouted. "Never!" Stu shouted back, punching Drew in the face. "Well," shouted Drew, "I don't wish to continue to see this family fall apart. We're out of here, forever! Come on Angelica," Drew added as he grabbed Angelica by the arm along with her things, and heads out the door. "Fine! I don't need you anyway! Good riddance to you, big brother." Yelled Stu as he slammed the front door closed.

Not 2 minutes later, the doorbell rings again. "Who is it now?" Grumbled Stu. "It's Aunty Celeste, here to pick up Zack, Chuckie and Kimmi," she replied. Stu opens the door. "They're in the living room, which is on your left," Stu added. Chuckie yells, "We're right here," from the living room front window. Celeste heads over to them, scoops up Zack in her arm, and Kimmi and Chuckie follow her out the door. "Time to go," she said, as they walk outside down the sidewalk to her car. Once in the car, Celeste smiles and says, "Looks like you 2 will get to sleep over with Zachary tonight," she smiled. "It will be Zack's first slumber party!" "How does your anty drive if she can't see anyway?" Asked Kimmi. Zack replied with a smile, "My aunty has a special driverless car that drives itself, so we can go anywhere we want." "Wow!" Chuckie adds with a huge smile, as the car pulls away from what will soon become Tommy's old house, and Stu's bachelor pad.

Down at the hospital, Dil now has stitches in the back of his head, and Tommy is once again, on life support. Dr. McStuffins has a talk with Didi out in the hallway. Didi has already explained to her about how Dil got hurt, and the incidents in terms of Tommy with his medicine, how he only took it for 2 and a half days, before some little friends of his, emptied the contents of the bottle down the drain. "The good news, Dil now has stitches, and, it appears from the EEG that no severe brain damage was done," said Dr. McStuffins. "As for Tommy though, things don't look so good," she added. "What is it doctor?" Asked Didi disappointedly. "Well, because he had the Gray Plague, and didn't complete the 7 day period of medicine, we have to say that his Gray Plague returned due to lack of medical care. So once he's able to breethe on his own again, I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do, except wait for the Gray Plague vaccinations to be offered in this town again," added Dr. McStuffins. "And what should I do in the meantime?" Asked Didi. "I'm in the process of going back to school to continue studying for my Masters in Child Development, and due to recent events, I'm getting a divorce from my husband, and Tommy and Dil will live with me," she said with a frown. Dr. McStuffins turned to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "All we can do, is give Tommy a Life Support pendent to wear, which will sound an alarm should he have an episode, and, we'll put him on a waiting list for the Gray Plague vaccination, as getting the vaccination, even after catching the Gray Plague, is the only sure remedy to be rid of it," added Dr. McStuffins. Didi puts a finger to her mouth and sighs. "There's nothing more you can do?" She asked. "I'm afraid not Mrs. Pickles," replied Dr. McStuffins with a frown, patting Didi's shoulder. "All I can recommend, is to give it time. Sooner or later, things will get better," Dr. McStuffins added.

The following day, a you-hall was parked in front of Tommy's house. Didi, Betty, and Aunty Celeste were all working together to pack stuff up into it, while Zack, Chuckie, Kimmi, Phil and Lil were off playing in the yard. "Don't you think you and Stu ought to talk things out?" Asked Betty. "There's nothing more to discuss Betty. If Stu would rather put his whole focus on his inventions and no focus towards his family, then he can do that." Snapped Didi. "I don't need my boys growing up around that maniac, possibly ending up in custody of DSS down the road," Didi added. "As experience raising my nephew by myself, it hasn't been easy. Are you sure you can do this?" Added Celeste. "Celeste, I'm studying for my Masters in Child Development, and I read Lipschitz, I think I can handle it." Didi added as she continued to pack boxes into the you-hall.

The babies are playing in the yard, with a stuffed talking dog of Zachary's. Phil and Lil press on its stomach. "What's your favorite food, Zachary? My favorite food is, milk!" Said the toy. "That's a really neat toy," said Phil. "I like that it knows your name," added Lil. "Isn't it cool?" Replied Zachary. "His name is Scout and my mommy gave him to me before I moved here with my aunty! He's fun to play with, and sleep with at night!" Zachary added as he squeezed one of the feet. "2 minutes of bedtime music. Goodnight, Zachary." Said the toy as it began to play some soothing music. "Why are you being so nice to us Zachary?" Asked Phil. "I thought you didn't like us," added Lil. "Well, after playing with Tommy yesterday, giving him another chance, and having so much fun on that adventure to his basement to fetch his screwdriver, I decided, maybe I ought to give you guys another chance as well. I see while you may like mud and worms, that's not all you like, and it's better to give all babies a fair chance, cuz you just might be missing out on something fun!" Zachary said with a smile. "Tommy's screwdriver I forgot!" Said Chuckie frantically. "We still have it, and never gave it back to him cuz he left for the hopcickle." He added. "Where's the Reptar wagon guys?" "I don't see it Chuckie," said Kimmi with a frown. "But wait, there's the you-hall, you could leave it for Tommy there, and his mommy can give it to him later." Added Kimmi. Zack pulls the screwdriver out of his diaper. "I'll deliver it to Tommy's mommy's you-hall," he said with a smile, as he crawls towards it. "But you'd better hurry," adds Kimmi as she spies only a couple of boxes left outside on the lawn. "Tommy's mommy is almost done." Added Kimmi.

Zack crawls to one of the remaining boxes that's outside, pulls it open, and drops the screwdriver inside. "How did you get over here?" Asked Didi as she comes up to Zack in front of the box. She picks him up and carries him over to his aunt. Betty retapes the box shut and loads the last few boxes into the you-hall. "Well, looks like everything," said Betty, as she closed the back of the you-hall. "Bye everyone," said Didi, as she gave everyone a hug, walks around to the driver's door, gets in, and starts to drive away. As she's driving away, tears stream down Chuckie's face. "Bye Tommy," Chuckie whispered as the you-hall drove off down the street.

Originally, this was where my story was going to end. Ending it in tragedy. But a true Rugrats fan just, cannot end a Rugrats fanfic in this matter. And so, what will happen next? Will Kira and Betty ever speak to each other again? Will Stu and Didi make up, ending their divorce and getting back together? And will Tommy, finally get his Gray Plague vaccination, ending the constant miserable illness, and bringing the old Tommy back? We'll find out the answers to these questions and much more, when we dive into the exciting conclusion that's to come, in chapter 10.


	10. Chapter 10

Rugrats and the Gray Plague

Premiss:

When a terrible Flu epidemic comes to town, will it change the Rugrats lives forever?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rugrats, or any other TV show that should cross over into this story, and this goes for any future chapters posted about this particular story. The characters are the property of their original creaters, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE: Starting in chapter 6, and going onwards till the end of the story, 2 new characters appear regularly. Myself, known in the story as Aunty Celeste, and my nephew Zachary. Everything is true about us except we don't live where the Rugrats live in reality, nor does Zack live alone with me, making me his care provider, and, I don't have a driverless car. Also, in reality, Zack isn't crawling yet at the time this story was written, but in the story, he is.

Recap of Chapter 9: At the beginning of the chapter, Chuckie, Zack and Kimmi come over to play with Tommy and Dil. Tommy and Chuckie make up from the fight that went down the day before, and everybody enjoys a Reptar video. After the video, Angelica comes over, and tries to get the babies to judge her Cynthia fashion show. Kimmi and Zack keep Angelica busy while Tommy and Chuckie head down to the basement, in search of his missing screwdriver. While searching for it though, Tommy starts to not feel good, and passes out. Zack and Chuckie end up finding the screwdriver, and Zack puts it into his diaper for safe keeping. Meanwhile, when Stu goes to get Tommy from the basement, he accidentaly drops Dil on to the kitchen floor, splitting the back of his head open, making Didi so angry, that she decides to get a divorce. Angelica's happy about this, cuz this means she won't have to come over and play with those dumb babies anymore. And when Drew shows up to pick up Angelica, he gets into a fight with Stu, and they stop speaking to one another. Didi gets the boys to the hospital, and while they're able to put stitches into Dil's head, making him ok again, Tommy is once again on life support, and because he missed the majority of his doses of medicine, there wasn't much more the doctors could do once Tommy was breathing on his own again, except give him a pendant to wear that would go off when he had an episode, and wait for another batch of Gray Plague vaccines to come in, as at this rate, that's the only thing that will surely cure Tommy. The chapter ends with Didi packing up her, Tommy and Dil's stuff to move out of the house. Betty and Celeste try to talk her out of it, but Didi has made up her mind, and is convinced, she can be a single parent, and get her Master's degree at college. Meanwhile, Zack not only gets Tommy's screwdriver returned to him, by placing it into one of the boxes Didi was packing up to take with them, but he's made friends with Tommy, Phil and Lil, as well as Chuckie and Kimmi, and has learned a very valuable lesson in friendship. Don't judge a baby by its cover. So now what will happen? Will things get better for the rugrats and their families? Let's find out, in chapter 10!

Chapter 10

This chapter takes place, 3 months later after the events of chapters 1 through 9. Within that time, Didi has started school, and has moved into an apartment on campus with her 2 boys, Tommy and Dil. Tommy has had several more times, in and out of the hospital, as they wait for him to get that vaccination, and while his mommy is at class, Taffy, who is going to high school, and taking a couple of classes on campus for the college experience, comes to babysit Tommy and Dil while Didi's in class. Meanwhile, Phil and Lil have turned 2-years-old within this time, but Betty and Howard didn't plan a huge party, because they decided for their birthday, to take them to Twin Canyon for the very first time. Chuckie and Kimmi continue to play with Zachary, and Aunty Celeste has charge of the Finster kids, almost every day for a few hours, while Kira and Chaz are busy working at The Java Lava, and poor Betty, how she'd give anything for Stu and Didi to get back together. She awakens every single morning to find Stu sleepwalking through her yard, and kissing her windows. And then, there's Drew. He can't stand to take Angelica over to play at Susie Carmichael's, because she lives across the street from Tommy's old house, which is now Stu's bachelor pad. Drew is so afraid that Stu will spot him, and they'll start fighting again. Didi finds it hard to live on the college campus, with the majority of the other residents, being half her age. She keeps playing with the idea of getting back together with Stu, but she's not sure if she really wants to do this. And poor Tommy, he's grown depressed, and lost all hope of getting better and his love for adventure. There's no good place to play outside at his mommy's school, and their home now is so much smaller than what they use to have. Not only that, but he also misses Spike, who had to stay behind with daddy. Turning 2 does not excite Tommy, but rather, with what he's been through as of late, he's worried the Terrible 2's for him, will be more terribler than usual. On a happier note though, within this 3 months period, Betty and Kira have resolved their differences, allowing Chuckie and Kimmi to play with Phil and Lil again.

It is now the evening of Tommy's second Birthday, and Aunty Celeste's driverless car, pulls into the drive in movie parking lot. Chuckie, Kimmi, and Zack are sitting in back. Looking around, Chuckie exclaims excitedly, "Hey guys, look, we're at the parking lot movie! That's the place where we watch movies in the car! The last time I came here was with Tommy, Phil, Lil, Dil, and Angelica to see Runaway Reptar." "Wow! Sounds neat!" Exclaimed Kimmi. "I've never been to the parking lot movie before, this is gonna be fun!" She added. "I agree!" Added Zack with a smile. "Say, what's that thing on your aunty's head?" Asked Kimmi, pointing to Aunty Celeste's head, where she was wearing a pair of headphones. "Those are special headphones that tell my aunty what's going on in the movie, because she can't see," replied Zack. As Celeste gets the speaker set up in the window of the backseat of the car, she says, "We're here for Tommy's second Birthday, and to see The Land without Smiles II, a Dummy Bears movie. Apparently, it's a sequel to the first one, The Land without Smiles." "Oh yeah, I remember that movie," said Chuckie to Celeste. "I went to see that at a regular movie theater with Tommy, Phil and Lil, but Tommy was more interested in looking for Reptar, so we never saw the movie," he added.

Everyone else starts to pull into the drive in movie. Stu, Angelica and her family, Boris and Minka, Lou and Lulu, the Devilles and the Carmichaels. "Where's the guest of honor?" Asks Howard as he looks over at Betty. "Beats me!" She replied. Back at the university, Didi is finishing up a class. As the class lets out, she looks at her watch. "Oh my gosh, we're gonna be late!" She exclaimed. She gets Taffy, Tommy and Dil into the car, and they drive as fast as they can to get to the movies. "I would have rather gone to a happier movie, but this was the only thing playing that was rated PG," Didi said to Taffy as they were driving. "And, with doing Tommy's Birthday in this way, if Tommy has to be rushed to the hospital, there's no party to clean up, we can just, leave the parking lot." Didi added. They arrive, just as the movie is starting.

During the movie, a text message comes across Didi's phone. It's from the hospital, claiming that Tommy's name has been moved up on the Gray Plague vaccination list, and to bring him in right away, but obviously, Didi doesn't see this message, until after the movie. After the movie though, Didi sets up a small table with a Birthday cake and drinks on a field that's over to the side of the parking lot. Betty already agreed to clean up if Tommy should have to be rushed to the hospital. The babies have all congregated together on the grass at this point. "Wasn't that a good movie?" Asked Kimmi to the group. Tommy sighs with a frown. "The only thing that will make me happy, is to not have this Gray Plague anymore." Everybody was up and talking, that is, everybody that was currently speaking to one another, and eating on Birthday cake. It was at this time that Didi checked her phone, and saw the text message. She was so excited, that she clapped her hands, and got everyone's attention. "Exciting news everyone, there's a vaccination ready for Tommy. We'll post pone the party to take place at another time." As she gathered up Tommy and Dil, and rushed to the car to head to the hospital. Everyone else decides to leave the drive in at this time too, since the movie was over.

While on the way to the hospital, Didi gets a flat tire. She's panicking, and not sure what to do. "I've never changed a tire before," cried Didi. "Neither have I," agreed Taffy. "Even when my band, Taffy and the Sault Waters has gone on tour, we've luckily, never had a flat tire." All of the sudden, Stu happens to pull up behind them. He gets out of his car, and races over to Didi's. "Didi, you and Tommy get into my car and head to the hospital, I'll change your tire and get Taffy and Dil home," said Stu. Didi wasn't wild about this, but she knew she had no choice, so she grabbed Tommy, got into Stu's car, and they were off. Didi and Tommy head to the hospital. Tommy smiles for the first time in weeks, as Didi carries him through the hallways to the Gray Plague section. "I hope this works," Tommy thinks as they're headed to the vaccination room. A nurse greets them. "Glad to see you made it," she said with a smile. "Let's get you all settled in." She added, taking Tommy, and getting him changed into a hospital gown. Meanwhile, Lucy Carmichael shows up at the hospital to give Tommy the vaccination, despite having to get passed Stu on the road, fixing Didi's flat tire.

They put Tommy under for this vaccination, since they don't wish to mess anything up, seeing the condition that Tommy has been in as of late, and this vaccination, is his only chance, for being rid of this plague for good. While Tommy is asleep, he has one last dream with that nasty cloud in it. "Hate to break it to you stupid cloud, but Gray Plague, let you be gone!" Cried out Tommy. The cloud just laughed at him. "Oh? And who's going to do that?" Tommy answered, "Reptar!" Suddenly, Reptar appears, and, it's Reptar versus the Gray Plague. He grabs a hold of that cloud, roars, and destroys it by throwing it into Mount Fugi, the volcano that was in the Runaway Reptar movie. As the volcano shoots up fireworks in honor of destroying the cloud, Tommy wakes up in the hospital, with Dr. Carmichael staring down at him with a smile on her face. "It's all over Tommy, you're finally cured, of the Gray Plague." She said. Tommy has a bandage on his arm, and feels soar, but he's also smiling, and is the happiest he's been in weeks. "Yay! I'm all better!" He said with a smile, sitting up in bed.

Meanwhile, Stu shows up at the hospital, to see how Tommy is doing, and to let Didi know that he changed her tire, and that Dil and Taffy were back at her apartment at the university. Didi smiles at Stu. "Thank you Stu, you saved our son." "You mean it honey? You want to come home?" Stu asked. "Yes I do Stu," she says, kissing him on the cheak and giving him a hug.

That weekend, they loaded up a you-hall, and Didi, Tommy and Dil, move back into their old house with Stu. "Spike!" Tommy cried, as he runs up to him in the yard, licking his face. In excitement, Tommy hops on his back and they go for a ride.

A week later, everybody is gathered in Tommy's backyard, where they're having a party, to celebrate Tommy's second Birthday and his survival of the Gray Plague, and the reuniting of Stu and Didi. Didi and Stu are up near the house. "We'd just like to say we're very thankful to have Tommy, all cured of the Gray Plague," said Didi. "And I for one am glad to have my wife and boys back, and I'm sorry to everybody I've hurt over the last few months," added Stu. Drew comes up to Stu, forgives him and gives him a hug. Down in the yard, the babies are all gathered around one another on the grass. "It's great to have you back," said Zack. "We've missed you Tommy," added Chuckie. "I've missed you too," said Tommy. "It's great we're all together again!" Exclaimed Kimmi, as everybody gives one another a group hug.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Asked Zack. "Let's pick dandelions," replied Chuckie. "Chuckie, we can't spend our day just picking dandelions," replied Tommy. "And why not?" Asked Chuckie. "Because everyday is an adventure," Tommy said as he hopped into the front of the Reptar wagon up by the steering wheel. "And should something like the Gray Plague come along, it could end your adventures forever and ever. So make sure you go on all of the adventures you can, cuz life, is an adventure! So let's go!" Added Tommy. The other babies, Phil, Lil, Zack, Chuckie, Kimmi, and Dil, all exclaim, "We baby's gotta do what we baby's gotta do," as they all pile into the wagon, and the babies drive off in the backyard, imagining they're driving on the open road, into the sunset.

The End

This concludes the story, of The Rugrats, and the Gray Plague. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I've been dreaming up the story in my head for the past 6 months, so it felt nice to finally write it down, and, I can assure you, that there will be more Rugrats fanfics, to come, so Rugrat fans, please check back often, to see if a new story has been posted! And feel free to leave me feedback, or to give me any ideas, I'd love to hear from you.


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